It only seems like yesterday but covering the event for my Tasmanian newspaper was an incredible experience and there were so many memories that will remain for a lifetime.

A couple stand out.

Craig Walton was an emerging star of world triathlon at the time, but he was also a friend and school mate. He was a year younger than I at Ulverstone High.

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Triathlon was making its Olympic debut in Sydney and the setting was extraordinary.

There was this journo from Tassie, probably unprofessionally wearing a Team Walton t-shirt, covering his mate competing in the debut Olympic triathlon all from the steps the Sydney Opera House.

Not only that but Walt, who was a world-class swimmer and cyclist blew the opposition literally out of the water to lead for the swim and bike leg, only to be overrun by the skinny greyhounds on the run leg and finish 27^th overall.

We shared a few beers that afternoon and a meal with family and close friends that night.

Later in the evening a couple of us adjourned to the New Balance Bar, a glitzy sponsor set up for the sporting apparel company set up in the Maratime Museum, where we shared a nightcap with Aussie women's triathlete Loretta Harrop and her brother Luke.

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Only two years later Luke was tragically killed while on a training ride in Queensland.

Yet the moment of the Games was Cathy. The entire city, no country, seemed to be on tenterhooks in the lead-up to Cathy Freeman's 400 final.

Cathy had spent several years competing each summer in Tassie in our carnival series in the lead-up to the OIlympics and our paper and people had formed a close association with her which enabled this journalist to sit front and centre in the press section of the OIympic stadium that night as Cathy nervously positioned her starting blocks.

A couple of years earlier I'd seen Cathy almost break 50 seconds for 400 m on a grass track on the Devonport Oval which was just mind-blowing at the time so it came as no surprise to see her run 49.11 with the nation on her back and win that gold medal.

I get goosebumps with even the mere thought of it to this day.

What a special time the Sydney Olympics was in our history.