When the Olympics came to Canberra: 20 years on from the Sydney 2000 torch relay

Yet despite the short distance, the trip was going into uncharted territory, and several intensive training sessions were needed.

For one, she would be rowing in a single scull, a boat she wouldn't normally row in, and she was rowing with her husband, renowned rowing coach Gordon, who she had also never rowed with in that type of boat.

She also happened to carrying a very important item at the front of the boat that was viewed by thousands who had lined the lake's shores: the Sydney 2000 Olympic flame.

"Because it was September, it was still quite cold, and I still remember the warmth of the flame as it was hooked up to the boat and we began to row," Marcks says.

"It wasn't quite so close that I could singe my hair, though."

Marcks was one of thousands of people who carried the Olympic torch during its 100-day relay across the country in 2000, which culminated in Cathy Freeman lighting the cauldron.

For three days in September, the torch would travel through the ACT and would not only be ferried by boats, but would be carried down highways, suburban roads and pass national institutions.

The torch would be carried through the hands of Canberra sporting heroes, community volunteers, public servants, war veterans and school children.

For those three days in September 2000, the eyes of Australia following the relay were firmly fixed on Canberra, as it followed the flame in counting down to what would go on to be called the best Olympic games ever.

By the time the Olympic torch made its way to Canberra, the relay had already been running for 90 days.

After first torchbearer Nova Perris held the torch aloft at Uluru on June 8, the torch then travelled to every corner of the country. The ACT was the last jurisdiction to get its chance to see the flame up close when it entered the nation's capital on September 5, 2000.

Throughout the course of the relay 11,000 people got the chance to run with the torch, all from different walks of life.

Among the runners in the ACT was former auxiliary Bishop of the Canberra-Goulburn diocese Pat Power.

He was chosen by relay officials to light a mini-cauldron, which was lit at the end of each day's route, outside Parliament House in front of 10,000 people.

What his role would be in the first day of the relay was not revealed until just days before, well after he was informed he would be taking part in the relay months prior.

"I had been in a serious car accident a few months earlier, and when I heard the news I was selected to be a part of the torch relay, I didn't know if I could walk, let alone run," Power says.

"A few weeks before I was told I would be carrying the torch from Old Parliament House to New Parliament House, which was a great leg to run, but it was a steep climb, so I trained with a milk container that was filled with sugar."

Like many visitors to the ACT, the torch came into Canberra down the Federal Highway and crossed the border at Watson, where Queanbeyan-born world squash champion Heather McKay became the first Canberra torchbearer.

From there, it was run down Northbourne Avenue towards Civic, after making a brief detour through the streets of Dickson, before being met at a civic reception by then-Chief Minister Kate Carnell outside the ACT Assembly.

It couldn't stop for long in Civic though, and was then taken through the hands of runners down Constitution Avenue and up Anzac Parade, where the flame briefly paused at the Eternal Flame at the Australian War Memorial.

Pat Power was the final runner that day, although he wasn't going to light the cauldron outside Parliament House alone.

"Each of us got an escort runner for our leg of the relay, and so we ran there together and when we got up on the podium we lit the cauldron together," he says.

"Before we reached the stage, we were greeted by a group of cadets with their rifles forming a guard of honour, but we weren't sure whether we had to run around it or straight through."

The windy conditions at the time of the ceremony saw the temperature drop to just 7 degrees, but while he was only clad in a thin running top and shorts, Power says the adrenaline and excitement of the day was enough to fend off the cold.

"We didn't even feel a thing," Power says.

"The first day was nice in that the first to carry it in Canberra, Heather McKay, was a Queanbeyan girl, and it ended with me, a Queanbeyan boy."

Throughout its voyage around Australia, the torch had travelled by plane, car, train and even was scuba-dived underwater.

On September 6, the torch would begin its second day in Canberra by boat with Megan Marcks' row across Lake Burley Griffin.

"It was an honour to be involved, and then to have an opportunity to do it in a memorable way that strongly links back to your sport, how often do you get to do that?" Marcks says.

The flame was attached to a small device that held the torch in place at the front of the boat for the row across the lake.

While many lined the shore of the lake to watch the flame be ferried across, there was also a sizable crowd on the water joining Marcks.

"We had the water police and people from the rowing fraternity also join us and it was a nice gathering on the water. The water was choppy as well and it was all good fun."

From there, the torch returned back to the road and back to the hands of runners, as it made its way through to the Institute of Sport and through the streets of Belconnen.

While many people said they were touched by the flame during its visit to Canberra, one of the torchbearers took that quite literally.

Tahnee Clydesdale, a 13-year-old who was chosen for the relay following her courageous battle with leukemia, singed her thumb during her leg after the torch flared up when she received the flame.

The Canberra Times reported that day it was believed a nozzle that directed the gas flow had become loose, allowing the torch to flare when it ignited.

An Olympics official said at the time the runner had been showing the torch to a friend and had emptied her gas cylinder by mistake.

Almost 14,000 torches were made for the relay and torchbearers all got the chance to purchase the one they used after the event for $400, or around $640 today. The torches have now become collector's items, some fetching for around $2000 online.

Brennon Dowrick still has the torch he ran with 20 years ago, but don't expect it to light up like it did during the relay.

"The organisers were very careful safety wise, the canister that lit the torch was taken out when we finished the relay," he says.

"Those canisters were specifically designed for the torch, so you can't replace them with regular gas canisters."

The Canberra-based gymnast and former Olympian got a double dose of running with the flame, after the runner slated to run after him pulled out at the last minute due to illness.

Dowrick's relay run was close to home, literally, running past his home in Florey and his local shops.

"When I was running, the crowd was three or four rows deep along the streets the whole way, it was incredible. I've never seen as big a hype in Canberra," he says.

"The feeling was such pride. The pride went outside of Sydney. Canberra was proud. Australia was proud."

The torch weaved its way through the streets of Belconnen and headed south towards Weston Creek and Tuggeranong.

It was before a large crowd along the streets of Farrer that then 13-year-old Paul Sait carried the flame.

The high school student was selected to be a torchbearer after his dad nominated him in a competition run by a Sydney newspaper to be part of the relay.

While one of the youngest participants in the relay, Sait says he still remembers the Olympic buzz that descended over Canberra in the lead up to the games.

"For that 400 metres that you were running, you felt like a superstar. You were waving at people, and they were waving back and taking photos," he says.

"It certainly was over quickly, so I soaked it up and ran as slow as I could.

"I still reminisce about it randomly to this day, and the experience was something I will always remember."

After making its way through Tuggeranong, it was then up into Woden for the torch, heading towards its final destination for the day.

More than 10,000 people crammed into Goodison Park to watch rugby league legend Mal Meninga pass the torch to former Olympic marathon runner Robert de Castella, who ran a much shorter distance than he was used to in order to light the mini cauldron.

In its three days the torch was in the ACT, it passed through hundreds of pairs of hands. But one of them wouldn't be listed on any official program, wouldn't be in an official uniform and was a surprise last minute addition. The hands were that of former South African president Nelson Mandela.

Mandela, who was in Canberra at the time to receive an honorary degree from the Australian National University, happened to be at Government House - which was where the relay would begin that day - for a reception with Governor-General William Deane.

Mandela handed the flame to then-ACT young citizen of the year Michael Quall, who in turn passed it to Canberran Sally McCreedy, who would compete in Australia's softball team at Sydney 2000 just days later.

The torch's last day in the ACT started in Yarralumla, and would follow the shores of Lake Burley Griffin and through the Canberra's inner south.

Olympic hurdler Rohan Robinson, who had qualified for the Sydney games, then ran the torch through the streets of Kingston as one of the final runners in Canberra.

Robinson had been staying with the Australian Olympic team in Brisbane for a pre-Games camp, and flew down to Canberra especially for his leg of the relay

"The training you're doing a couple of days before an Olympics is not particularly strenuous, you're resting up during the calm before the storm, so spending the day in Canberra was a good way to do it," Robinson says.

"I made up my mind to become an Olympian when I was eight and watching the 1980 Olympics. By the time I got to carry the torch I had already become one. It was magnificent."

At the time of time of the relay in Canberra, then-ACT Olympic Council president David Dickson said the enthusiasm for the Sydney Olympics would be paid back in 20 years time.

Judging from Robinson's response, along with other torchbearers and a nation of sports watchers, the enthusiasm for the Sydney Olympics has only increased 20 years on.

"Sport is all about tribalism and sport is about symbols, and the Olympic torch relay really epitomises that," Robinson says.

"It was one of the greatest honours of my sporting career to carry the torch."

By the time the Olympic torch left the ACT, it still had eight days left before it reached Sydney OIympic Park.

After crossing the border, it would be run through Queanbeyan, down the Monaro Highway to Thredbo before snaking its way up the coast through to the suburbs of Sydney.

On September 15, day 100 of the relay, the torch was carried into Stadium Australia by Herb Elliott in front of 110,000 spectators and billions of TV viewers around the world.

The torch would then do its final lap, passing through the hands of celebrated female Australian Olympians.

Raelene Boyle, wheeling Betty Cuthbert, would pass the torch to Dawn Fraser, who would send it into the hands of Shirley Strickland, then Shane Gould and Debbie Flintoff-King, before Cathy Freeman was revealed to be the relay's final runner, who lit the cauldron in a stream of cascading water.

The relay runners had done their bit. The athletes were ready. The flame was lit. The Games were about to begin.