Igniting the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games

Bringing an ambitious idea to life

In an AGL documentary, Michael Fraser, then Group General Manager Energy Sales & Marketing and later AGL’s CEO – recalls a surprise approach from the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG).

“SOCOG came to us – they’d been around the world, in fact – and told us what they wanted to do,” he explains in the film.

A small group of AGL engineers began experimenting to see if the creative vision could be brought to life. That was to have Freeman standing on a submerged platform that sat just below the surface of a pool of water. She would use the Olympic torch to light a ring of fire. The circle of flames would rise out of the water around Freeman, ascending into the night’s sky above the stadium.

The engineering team built a prototype behind closed doors in an AGL laboratory in Camperdown, NSW. They showed it to the mastermind behind the opening and closing ceremonies, creative director Ric Birch.

“When Ric saw that, he was sold,” Michael said.

Fire and water – the messy logistics

How do you make a ring of fire emerge from a pond of water, then launch it high into the sky to ignite an Olympic cauldron? And how do you ensure the safety of our biggest Olympic hope, Cathy Freeman, inside the rising ring of flames?

The answer was hydrogen.

The team created a device that used hydrogen as the pilot flame. That pilot flame would then ignite a propane flame on the torch – like your gas BBQ at home – but on a much bigger scale.

Working under pressure

Exactly one month before the big day, the structure was in good shape. But it still needed to be tested while immersed in the cascading water.

Testing had been moved on-site to the Olympic Stadium at Homebush by now. A lot of moving parts needed to come together quickly. Everything had to be functional and perfect – the flames, the valve opening sequence and timing to let the hydrogen and propane flow and the artificial waterfall.

To everybody’s relief, the dry run – or the wet run – went perfectly.

Light it up

Fast-forward to September 15th. The big day had arrived. The AGL team recalled that it was like going to the moon – they only had one shot at getting everything right.

We learned, for example, that although we could optimise the control of a customer’s battery, solar system or Electric Vehicle (EV) charger to create new value, it resulted in an information asymmetry.

Cathy Freeman emerged to light the cauldron. She took her position, lowered her torch and watched as flames created a circle on the submerged platform around her.

She stood, raising the Olympic torch high, as the ring of fire began to rise. Water cascaded around her. But there was just one problem. The conveyor belt that raised the ring of fire ground to a halt.

Getting the Olympic flame back on track

A vital sensor had tripped, and only an emergency manual override could fix it and get the ceremony back on track.

The event had been planned to the second. A pause for urgent conveyor repairs wasn’t on the agenda. There was a limited amount of gas on site to keep the ring burning.

While technicians scrambled, the orchestra kept playing. But instead of a dramatic musical finish as the cauldron was lit, the music tapered out and the final few minutes unfolded in silence.

Fortunately, those watching thought it was all part of the drama.

The hunch that saved the day

A last-minute decision by an AGL team member to refill the backup gas bottles – just in case – may have saved the day. That provided enough fuel for the ring of fire to continue burning while the problem was fixed.

Years later, team members say they still can’t stomach the idea of re-watching that frantic moment on video. It was all too close for comfort.

But speaking after the event, they can appreciate the mammoth achievement. The opening ceremony was a massive success – the beginning of what the International Olympic Committee’s then-president, Juan Antonio Samaranch, called the best Olympic Games ever.

As one of our engineers recalls, “the feeling was sensational. And the whole world was watching.”

“That scene of Cathy Freeman lighting the flame, that’s going to be one that Australians will remember and that will be something that AGL can associate itself with for a long time.”