Kodak Australia and the Olympic Games

For over a century, Kodak has taken part in the Olympic Games, helping to capture sports history at its best. Virtually every classic, record-breaking Olympic Games moment has been recorded on Kodak film.

In Athens in 1896, the first Modern Olympic Games, Kodak advertised in the Book of Official Results. By 1924 at the Paris Games, Kodak was supplying film to photographers. The first film processing facility on-site at the Olympic Games was introduced by Kodak in 1968.

In Sydney 2000, Kodak will construct the world's largest Imaging Centre inside the Main Press Centre. At the Atlanta Games, Kodak catered for the traditional and digital imaging needs of over 1000 photographers and processed over 175,000 rolls of film. The Sydney facility will be much larger than the one set up at the 1996 Olympic Games, to handle the constant stream of Olympic Games images flowing out to all parts of the world. Kodak high-resolution digital cameras will also enable fast access to high-quality images.

In addition, Kodak will supply over 150,000 accreditation ID badges for athletes, officials, coaches, sponsors and others in the Olympic Games family. Over half of these badges will be issued via selected Kodak Express stores to hasten the process and reduce queuing. Individual pictures will be captured using Kodak digital cameras and then downloaded through Kodak's Picture Maker to the Organising Committee for approval and printing.

From the health perspective, Kodak will provide medical imaging services at the Athletes' Village, incorporating Kodak digital technology for remote/rapid radiological diagnosis.

Other Kodak activities include a fully operational retail store inside the Athletes' Village and a network of photographic shops and kiosks at the main sporting venues.

Countdown to 2000

To celebrate the milestone of 1000 days till the Games, Kodak presented Sydney with an official Olympic Games Countdown Clock in December 1997 at Darling Harbour. In May 1999, Kodak also gave an Olympic Games Countdown Clock to Melbourne's Southgate Arts and Leisure Precinct, marking 500 days to the start of the Olympic Games.