OLYMPIC GAMES SYDNEY - only canceled stamps

The stamp has been issued in a 20-stamp sheet, and the commemorative First Day Cover (FDC) has also been issued. Motif: Basketball, football, handball, water-polo and tennis balls symbolising the Olympic circles and sports in which Croatian sportsmen have won Olympic medals. The 27th Summer Olympic games will take place in Sydney from September 15 till October 1, 2000. In this venue 10 200 sportsmen from 199 countries will compete in 28 Olympic sports. The competitions will include 300 disciplines, 168 of which are men's, 120 women's and 12 are mixed disciplines. After Barcelona in 1992 and Atlanta in 1996, this will be the third independent appearance of the Republic of Croatia at the Summer Olympic Games. Croatia will be represented by 95 sportsmen who will compete in the following disciplines: athletics, weight-lifting, sailing, judo, kayak, swimming, table tennis, rifle shooting, tennis, tae kwon do, rowing, volleyball and water-polo. The sportsmen will be accommodated in the Olympic village that is situated in the Olympic Park in Hombush Bay, at 14 kilometres' distance from the centre of Sydney. Several dozen sports venues have been built for the occasion, with the grandiose Stadium Australia dominating above all of them, the largest Olympic stadium built so far. This is where the opening and closing ceremonies will take place, and also all the athletic competitions as well as the final game of the football tournament. In Sydney, the largest city and the capital of the best developed region New South Wales, some 80 000 Croats, or citizens of Croatian origin, live there. On the whole, in Australia with its total of 19 million inhabitants, there are some 200 to 300 thousand Croats, and by their number they belong to the six most numerous ethnic communities in Australia.