THE GAMES’ NO. 1 STAR? NO QUESTION, IT’S SYDNEY

The track and field events were scheduled to start at 6 p.m., so the people waiting for the trains at the downtown Central Station were concerned about getting to the stadium within an hour.

It seemed to be an Olympian task. The line of would-be passengers extended out the door and almost reached the street. There had to be at least 7,000 people, maybe more, trying to get on the trains.

Yet there was no sign of impatience or anxiety, as there surely would have been in other parts of the world. The Australians remained upbeat, calm and orderly as they moved through the line.

Sure enough, the system worked, and even the people at the back of the lengthy line were on a train within 15 minutes. They were in their seats at the stadium to see the opening heats of athletics, as track and field is known within the Olympic movement.

How to hold a successful Olympics? Make sure the trains run on time, and do it with a smile.

The 2000 Olympics in Sydney were everything the 1996 Games in Atlanta wanted to be. Nothing seemed to go smoothly in Atlanta, from the bus drivers who didn’t know the routes to the rampant commercialism that engulfed even the mom-and-pop souvenir stands trying to make a buck off the spectacle. The tragedy of the Olympic Park bombing goes without explanation.

Sydney put on a nearly perfect party. The Olympic venues were impressive and accessible, the transportation system ran comfortably and efficiently, and a corps of 47,000 cheerful and helpful volunteers put its arms around the world in a massive group hug.

The Games themselves produced the usual dramatic moments of triumph and crushing defeat. Home-grown heroes such as swimmer Ian Thorpe and 400-meter winner Cathy Freeman overcame incredible pressure to fill Aussies with immense pride. A U.S. baseball team made up of young prospects and aging minor-leaguers provided the feel-good story of the Games by upsetting the powerful Cubans to win the gold medal.

Marion Jones was the big U.S. star, and yet her efforts were tainted by the doping scandal involving her husband, shot putter C.J. Hunter. As usual, the specter of performance-enhancing drugs clouded the competition, leading to the expulsion of several athletes and a 16-year-old Romanian gymnast’s forfeiture of her gold medal.

Yet the good and bad from the athletes won’t be the lasting memory of these Games. The enduring image will be of a city and nation coming together to show that it still is possible to tame the colossus the Olympics has become.

Part of the tradition at the Closing Ceremony is for the International Olympic Committee president to declare the recently completed Games “the best ever,” a tradition Juan Antonio Samaranch conspicuously dispensed with in Atlanta.

However, when Samaranch declares the Sydney Games “the best ever” during Sunday’s Closing Ceremony, the world will second the motion with the Australian cheer of “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi, oi, oi.”

“I can’t imagine anybody doing a better job,” said NBC’s Bob Costas, serving as the host for his third Olympics. “I hope it came across to the viewers back in the U.S. how exceedingly well-run these Games were, and how remarkably friendly and prepared the people were to hold them.”

Olympic filmmaker Bud Greenspan said the Games were the best he had seen in a career that spans 40 years.

“It’s one of the few cities that has lived up to the expectations one anticipates having and never reaches,” Greenspan said.

Jim King of Houston, who came to Sydney to trade Olympic pins, has been to every Olympics since Los Angeles in 1984. He uses the media as his measuring stick.

“I trade pins with members of the media,” King said. “At every other Games I’ve been to, they’re usually complaining non-stop. But here I haven’t heard of any of that in any language. That has to say something.”

With considerable yet understandable pride, volunteer Bill Healey said, “I think we’re going to be the benchmark for future Olympics.”

It happened thanks to a collective effort from the government on down. That wasn’t the case in Atlanta, where organizers had to rely on private funding. So much money was spent building the venues that the operations end was shortchanged. It showed when glitch after glitch occurred.

In Sydney, the Australian government ponied up $2.6 billion Australian ($1.4 billion) to build facilities. The financial support allowed organizers to stage events in the venues a year before the Olympics–test runs, as it were.

“You can’t underestimate what it means to have government backing,” said Milton Cockburn of the Sydney Olympic Organizing Committee.

“I think Atlanta’s achievement has been underestimated. I can’t imagine an organizing committee having to build the venues by itself.”

As Sydney learned from Atlanta, nothing spoils an Olympics more quickly than a bus driver who doesn’t know directions. The fiasco of wandering drivers marred Atlanta’s effort almost from start to finish.

Sydney organizers spent four years on transportation issues. They beefed up a mass transit system that was already far superior to what Atlanta had. With few exceptions, people were able to get from here to there rather easily.

“We were using our transit system at a capacity never envisioned for it,” Cockburn said. “We found some glitches in the early stages, but we moved quickly to solve them. It’s an element of good planning and some luck.”

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Yet for all the planning, and a core Olympic complex that could have been Soldier Field, the United Center, Allstate Arena, Comiskey Park and more located within walking distance of each other, the roots of Sydney’s success were in its people.

Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, head of Athens’ organizing committee for 2004, saw firsthand how important it will be for the people of Greece to pull together as the Australians did.

“The human element is essential,” Angelopoulos-Daskalaki said. “All different parts of society were involved in these Games. It produces the enthusiasm that’s so important to the success.”

There seemed to be an Australian volunteer at every turn, eager to assist. The spirit of cooperation is huge in Australia. When the call for volunteers went out, people answered.

Organizers initially doubted whether they could attract 40,000 volunteers. They wound up with 47,000, all working at least 10 shifts of eight hours or more.

They were the true heroes of these games, making the cumbersome task of merely getting around a much more pleasant experience. After one of her shifts, Pauline Fox was riding a train, wearing her volunteer uniform. A man stood up, pointed to Fox and said, “We couldn’t have done it without the volunteers.” His fellow passengers then cheered for Fox.

The pride of Sydney definitely came through. Australia’s love of sports also enhanced the atmosphere.

This is a sports-crazy country, one that reveres its Olympic athletes. Venues played to more than 90 percent capacity.

“We love our sports, we enjoy them, and we made sure that we showed the opposition that we were having a good time,” said Nick Green, an Australian rower.

Australia leaves quite a legacy for Athens, a city that has been struggling to get its Olympic effort on a proper plane. Angelopoulos-Daskalaki knows her country has big shoes to fill.

“Each organizer has the same feeling when we leave an Olympics,” she said. “They had all kinds of issues and they dealt with all of them. We are very much inspired by the success of these Games.”

As is the rest of the world.