The opening ceremony for the 2000 Games is scheduled for September 15, 2000, and Olympics fever is growing in this sports-mad country of 18 million people.
Michael Knight, the Olympics Minister and president of the Sydney Games organising committee (SOCOG) said he is happy with the progress made but still cautious in assessing preparations.
"I hesitate to say we're positioned well because as soon as you start thinking you're on top of this, you'll stuff it up for sure," Knight was quoted as saying in Monday's Sydney Morning Herald newspaper.
But, the paper says, Knight concedes he thinks they are "nicely positioned".
Knight said everyone involved with the Games was on edge.
"It reflects this combination of hope and anxiety," Knight said. "I think the anxiety is a good thing. I believe in constructive anxiety."
Knight said there was no room for complacency.
"I think everybody, all the organisations putting on the Games - just like the athletes - ought to be just a little scared," he said.
Games organisers last month released ticketing details, with more than 9.6 million tickets available and prices ranging from as little to A$10 (US$6) up to A$1,382 for premium seats at the opening and closing ceremonies.
Tickets will go on sale by random ballot in mid-1999.
Most of the other big issues for organisers, such as stadium construction, accommodation and sponsorship, are reported to be under control.
A number of venues for the Games have already been completed, while all but two - tennis and a second water polo centre - are under construction.
The last venue is expected to be completed in early 2000, the Herald said.
The key works still under construction include the main stadium at Homebush Bay, scheduled to open next March.
One stumbling block has been a A$150 million blow-out in SOCOG's budget to A$2.6 billion, which organisers said will largely be offset by extra ticket sales.
SOCOG's revised budget is expected to be passed by the New South Wales state government by the end of September.
Bob Leece, executive director of construction body the Olympic Coordination Authority, said public interest was enormous and that five million people had visited the Homebush Bay site so far this year.
(A$1 = US$0.60).
Reuters
