– Juan Antonio Samaranch at the closing of the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Fifteen years ago on Tuesday the Harbour City erupted when, as journalist Ian Heads recorded; "in a burst of ancient colours – green, gold and ochre, Australia's proud Olympians of 2000 came marching into history at Olympic Stadium last night. The cheers rolled like thunder. The Games of the XXVII Olympiad – Sydney's Games – had begun."

It started a party no one wanted to end.

Strangers spoke to one another on public transport about the previous night's performances; when some of the 16,033 accredited journalists realised how good the city was they suggested Sydney should be made the permanent base for the Olympics while the 46,967 volunteers epitomised the best of the Australian boots 'n all spirit.

It signalled a time for hope when North and South Korea marched as one and four East Timorese athletes competed under the Olympic flag as their country awaited independence from Indonesia. But that dream was shattered almost one year to the day later when madmen crashed jets into New York and Washington.

Nevertheless, it was the Games that produced unlikely stars such as Taekwondo gold medallist Lauren Burns, who has needed 14 operations since the Games but never regretted what she put her body through. Russian-born Aussie Tatiana Grigorieva won silver for pole vault but in recent years has earned medals for the gelato she makes in Brisbane, while Ian Thorpe, Grant Hackett and, of course, Cathy Freeman, were enshrined alongside Herb Elliott, Murray Rose, Betty Cuthbert and Dawn Fraser as Australian supreme athletes.

The hype was impossible to escape and triathlete Michellie Jones – described as "Australia's first gold medal" long before her event started – sought refuge in a tedious chore.

"I treated it as another day," said Jones. "Some of my friends teased me about doing the housework a few days before I competed but it's what I'd normally do. You have to keep it real."

Jones, now in California, counts winning a title at last year US Grand National [equestrian] among her long list of achievements, and recalls Sydney as the opportunity for those close to her to support her at an Olympics. The importance of that overwhelmed her just before the race started.

"I looked into the stands and my family and friends were crying and I was in tears because they were. I thought 'I can't be at the Olympics and crying'. It's just an emotional thing . . . to compete at the Olympics."

Jones finished second to Switzerland's Brigitte McMahon but as Australia's first Sydney medallist she was exalted, and memories of being a home-town hero still make the now 46-year-old smile.

"I was a big Peter Brock fan growing up and when he sat with us in the dining hall and my sister embarrassed me saying how much I was in love with him," she laughed. "Cathy Freeman – who had way more pressure than I did – was so awesome. She was on the bus and said 'congratulations to you, Michellie Jones'.

"I met Tina Arena after a performance and she said 'You're a 'f--king legend'. I was out with friends and the police had to rescue me when I was mobbed."

Jones is helping triathlete Katie Kelly prepare for next year's Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro. Kelly is legally blind and Jones says she was honoured to be asked to compete as her guide.

"Guiding an athlete is so different, it's their journey so it's about them and I'm nervous," Jones said. "I'm thinking what if I get injured? What if I screw up or if [Kelly] is faster than me? So many thoughts and I'm hoping our journey is a smooth one."

Jane Saville, who lives in between Spain and Sydney, laughs when she – the woman disqualified by a judge when she was within earshot of the Olympic stadium – reveals she's joined the "dark side" as "judge" Jane.

"I'm on the other side of the fence," she laughed. "I think there's lots of things in [walking] we're changing and I hope to be a part of that. They are looking at technology to see how we could improve [judging] and to make it less objective."

Saville, now 40 and a mother of three, says her acceptance allowed her to move on from any disappointment.

"When I was an athlete I gave 100 per cent," she said. "You could think 'I should've, could've done better but never did'. I gave 100 per cent so I can't have regrets.

"Some people can remember what they were doing at the time [of my disqualification] and how they felt for me, which is lovely. I think I had more of an impact on people by being disqualified than I would've if I'd won gold. I'm not famous, maybe infamous  . . . [The gold] would've changed my life a little bit but not dramatically. You need perspective. I wasn't changing the world, it was just an athletics event at the Olympics. It was a game at the end of the day."

Cyclist Shane Kelly, who went into the Sydney Olympics as the world 1km sprint champion and the greatest favourite since Phar Lap, said it took him a lot of soul-searching to pinpoint why he finished a bronzed Aussie.

"I was happy to get the bronze but I really expected to win," he said. "It was only afterwards when I spoke to other athletes from other sports [that I worked out what happened because] they felt the same, that they over-trained. They put too much pressure on themselves and basically were 'cooked'. I was well, well below a PB or a great time.

"Post Sydney I went into a downer. I was bitterly disappointed. I'd hoped to come away with a gold, especially after '96 [when his foot slipped from the pedal at the start of the race]. I had a year out of the sport, had fun, did a lot of things with family and friends."

It poses the question whether that regret made the aftermath of Sydney worth it?

"Definitely," said Kelly. "To compete at an Olympic Games in your home country, not many athletes get that opportunity. The event itself was run so well and in such a beautiful city. Some great moments, but some disappointments as well. The guy who won my event had an absolute blinder and set an Olympic record."

Susie O'Neill said "terrifying memories" are entwined with the many great moments she enjoyed in Sydney 15 years ago.

"Sydney showed people how good the Olympics can be," she said. "It was positive, walking around the supermarket and having people come up and saying 'I can't wait to see you win'. It could've been seen as pressure but looking back 15 years on I think it was nice that people felt comfortable to wish me luck."

While O'Neill admitted she didn't handle the pressure as well as she may have hoped, her efforts to win a gold and three silver medals proved the depth of her mettle.

"There was a lot of pressure but trying to put it into perspective was the main thing," said the now 42-year-old mother of two. "It was the most difficult competition I competed at but it was also the most enjoyable. It was good, but bad and looking back on it now it was the most high-profile [competition] I went to.

"Besides the terrifying memories . . . the nerves . . .  I only have good memories because the team was really close and going to other events around Olympic Park was great. You can probably remember the feeling in the city, everyone was so friendly."

Michael Klim has carried one emotion-charged memory with him from the Olympics which followed the Aussie 4 x 100m relay team's victory over a formidable American swimming outfit that had promised to smash the Australians "like guitars".

"We walked into the dining room at midnight and received a standing ovation from every country, every coach and every volunteer and that is the enduring memory; people acknowledging one another's efforts," he said. "We were trying to come down to get ready for bed but didn't get much sleep that night."

That fortnight in Sydney 15 years ago was probably the world's last great celebration of youth and innocence before the horror of the Twin Towers attack, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Syrian refugee crisis and other tragedies that have marred history. Perhaps it's the realities of the world as it is that makes the Olympic spirit that engulfed Sydney for 17 joyful days seem that little bit more surreal as yet another year passes.