POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

Israeli Olympic team cap for Sydney Olympics

Object No. 2007/199/1

This cap has significance as an example of items brought to Australia by foreign teams competing at the Sydney Olympic Games, which were held from 15 September to 1 October 2000. It comes from a small group of objects presented to the Powerhouse Museum by the Israeli team at the Sydney Olympic Games. Each incorporates graphic elements of the Sydney 2000 Games logo or other symbols of Australia. It illustrates how an overseas team brought to Australia souvenir products that carry applications and variations of the Sydney 2000 logo. Israel won just one medal at the Sydney Games, a bronze medal awarded to Michael Kolganov for the men's 500m single kayak event. The graphic design package for the Games was designed to reflect the energy and innovation of Australian people as well as the colours and diversity of the landscape. This was the first Olympic Games to be developed according to an ambitious environmental program that focussed on the minimisation of pollution and waste and the protection of natural landscapes. This program influenced most aspects of the Games' development. In 2001, the NSW Government donated the Sydney 2000 Games Collection to the Powerhouse Museum to record the work of the Government bodies that planned and implemented the Games. The collection consists of over 700 objects, including costumes and props, designs and models, flags and banners, relay torches, sports equipment, road signage, uniforms, pins, medals and stamps.