CLICK AND DOUBLE CLICK: G'DAY, MATE: 'NET VIRTUAL SEAT TO OLYMPIC GAMES

Now that the Survivor phenomenon has ended, Americans can concentrate on the upcoming Olympics 2000. The Internet will let you travel to Sydney, Australia, to experience the sights and sounds of the world games, and, hey, it's a lot cheaper than the airfare.

The experts are expecting the Internet to court its largest audience ever for this year's games.

IBM -- host of the official Web site -- is anticipating at least 700 million page views during the games. The number of page views could even top 1 billion, according to some officials. Compare that to just 10 million during the 1996 summer games in Atlanta. Ironically, IBM was caught off guard by the traffic during 1996, but don't expect that to happen again.

Let's start at the official site.

www.olympics.com

This site has something for everyone -- those lucky enough to be traveling to the games or the rest of us, who will watch it on TV. The neat thing about the Internet is that you can read the news live -- not wait for the nightly broadcasts on NBC.

Even though the start of the games is just a little over two weeks away, this site is already gearing up with coverage of practices and preparation. The games begin Sept. 15 and run through Oct. 1.

The site bills itself as "Your virtual seat @ the games." Their boast is to provide Internet surfers "instant results, instant statistics and real-time coverage" for every event, every sport and every athlete. Their plan is certainly ambitious, but it probably is the reason so many will come visiting.

There are 37 games to choose from -- from archery to wrestling.

Pick a sport and you'll find news headlines, a glossary, history, rules, who's qualified, schedule and test events. There are lots to read before the games get under way.

You can also check out profiles on many of the top athletes who have set their sights on Sydney.

You can learn more about the participating countries by clicking on the world map. The folks at Britannica.com bring the country facts to you.

You can follow the path of the Olympic flame. Did you know the flame is a symbol carried over from the ancient Olympics where a sacred flame burned at the altar of Zeus throughout competition? You can really impress people with facts and figures gleaned from this site.

There is a great area for kids that includes trivia contests, games and lots of facts about the athletes. It looks both fun and inspiring for young people.

NBC, which will broadcast the games, also has its own Olympic site.

You can find it at

nbcolympics.com

NBC is already gearing up for the games. You can check out such main sections as news, results, schedules and forums. You can also read the athletes' bios and hear their voices. You can experience the athletes' comments with QuickTime.

The page is designed with an unusual bent -- the background of the page stays put when you scroll. It takes a little while to get accustomed to it.

Under the Australia heading on the left-hand side of the main page, you can learn more about "Aussie Talk." There's even an "Aussie Glossary." Hey, you too can be talking like someone straight from the Outback, bloke.

Should you worry about "ankle biters?" It depends. An ankle biter is a small child. Ready to run down to the Milk Bar? It's just the corner grocery. And what if someone says they want to "fix your Jack and Jill." You should smile. They just want to pay the bill at the restaurant.

Don't forget to peruse the "50 Things You May Not Know about Australia." The country has the lowest population density in the world. Its 19 million people is less than greater Los Angeles.

usolympicteam.com

You can learn more about the U.S. Olympic team and its members from this official site. For those who like the winter games better, take heart.

There's only 527 days until the games begin in Salt Lake City. They're scheduled Feb. 8-24, 2002.

You can learn more about the athletes and the games. The latter includes an overview of the Olympics, a preview of Sydney and Salt Lake or a recap of Nagano or Atlanta.

There's information on the various venues where the games will be held in Sydney.

Under the "Goodies" heading, you can download seven different Olympic photographs for wallpaper, or you can view movies sport-by-sport.

If you want a historical look at the Olympic games, check out this primer from the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles. I'm sorry that the address is really long, but there's lot of good information here.

aafla.org/OlympicInformationCenter/OlympicPrimer/OlympicPrimer.htm

You can learn more about the history of the games and even the symbols.

You can read about the requirements for athletes and about past games. Did you know the third Olympic Games were held in St. Louis in 1904 as part of the World's Fair? But according to this site, poor planning and poor organization made the sports competition a sideshow to the larger fair.

There were no athletes from England, France or Sweden.

There is also some neat lesson plans for teachers and others at this site to help young people share in the Olympic games. You can find it at aafla.org/OlympicInformationCenter/curriculum.htm

Most of the lesson plans are available in PDF format. The Adobe Acrobat Reader is available to download free of charge, if you don't already have it. You might as well download it. I predict you'll be seeing more and more of this format in the years ahead. It's very easy to read and searchable by key word.

No doubt the major news sites will be packed with Olympic news in the weeks and days ahead. One that I found particularly deep in its pre-coverage was offered by CNN and Sports Illustrated.

You can find it at

cnnsi.com/olympics

You can find out information on all the major sports along with schedules and a look at the athletes. You also might want to check out the SI Olympic Almanac on the left-hand side of the main page.

It provides an in-depth look at the history of the games and all-time medal winners. You can also look back at all the summer and winter games winners for each sport.

There's also a lot of interesting information on Australia, and Sydney in particular. They even provide a currency converter. On Monday, one U.S. dollar was equivalent to about $1.75 in Australia.

Don't miss the site's "Snapshots of Sydney." It's very interesting. Since the city was chosen to host the games in 1993, it has spent billions on construction and preparation. This snapshot gives you a bird's-eye view of some of those improvements.

There's also a wonderful photo gallery of some breathtaking spots in Sydney and nearby countryside.

What's your favorite Olympic site? E-mail me at jonia@sehosp.org or click@semissourian.com

See you in Cyberspace.

Joni Adams is the webmaster at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau.