The new Olympic Stadium in Sydney has already had a significant impact on international sport - and the opening ceremony for the 2000 Games is still four months away.

Rugby union and rugby league have both set new world record attendances for their respective codes since the 110,000-capacity stadium opened in March last year.

Built over 30 months at a cost of 690million Australian dollars (A), Stadium Australia is the biggest Olympic stadium in Games history, say Sydney organisers.

Standing the equivalent height of a 14-storey building, the main Olympic stadium at Homebush will host the opening and closing ceremonies, athletics, and the men's football final.

International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch described it as "the most impressive stadium I have ever seen in my life" when he visited the site two years ago.

"Our goal was to build the most impressive, state-of-the-art stadium possible, in terms of design and engineering. It was a massive undertaking," Tim Brady, Stadium Australia events manager, told the Press Association.

"We wanted to make a statement to the world and also leave a lasting legacy of the Games for Sydney," he added.

The main stadium has been funded by the private sector, but the rest of the A3.3billion construction budget for the Games is being met by local taxpayers in New South Wales.

In addition, other state governments have invested a total of A75million to upgrade existing venues in Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra to host group football matches.

Rugby league established its new attendance record when a crowd of 107,999 watched the grand final between Melbourne Storm and St George-Illawarra last September.

The rugby union international between Australia and New Zealand attracted a record 107,048 people to the Olympic Stadium last August.

Once the Olympic Games are over, the capacity will be reduced to 80,000 by removing the huge upper tier of open seating at each end of the stadium. The athletics track will also be removed.

As part of the design, the stadium can be configured to a rectangular or oval shape by moving the ground level tier of seating back or forward, making it possible to host football, rugby, cricket and Australian Rules football.

"After the Games there is no need for an athletics stadium of that size in Sydney, so we wanted to be able to create a better atmosphere for rugby or football matches by bringing the crowd closer to the pitch," Brady said.

Another athletics track has been built next to the main stadium at Homebush and it will be used as a warm-up circuit during the Games.

Samaranch is also full of praise for the Sydney Aquatic Centre, venue for the swimming, diving and water polo events and another landmark at Homebush, describing it as world class. Opened six years ago, its capacity will be increased by one-third to 15,000 for the Games.

A new tennis complex costing A39 million, with a 10,000-seat centre court, has also been built for the Olympics. The site at Homebush, opened last December, staged the Sydney International ATP tour event for the first time the following month.

An 18,000-seat indoor arena, which will stage the basketball tournament, has also been built on the site. New facilities, including a man-made International Regatta Centre and canoe rapids, shooting centre, velodrome, baseball stadium, and an equestrian centre, have been built in Sydney's western suburbs, an hour's drive from the main venues, athletes' village and media centre at Homebush.

A temporary 10,000-seat stadium is now being erected on the beach at Bondi, one of Sydney's most famous tourist attractions and venue for the beach volleyball tournament.

Games organisers have also made use of existing facilities - an indoor concert venue and a convention centre at Darling Harbour in the city - for boxing, judo, wrestling and gymnastics.

Bruce Stadium, home ground for ACT Brumbies and Canberra Raiders, Hindmarsh Stadium in Adelaide, and the Gabba test cricket ground in Brisbane have also been upgraded to stage group games in the football tournament.

Other group games will be played at the 44,000-capacity Sydney Football Stadium, the previous venue for soccer, rugby union and major rugby league matches.

After all this expense, however, the venues which are expected to make most impact with a worldwide television of several billion people came free of charge.

Sailing, triathlon and the marathon will take place on or near Sydney's stunning Harbour, with the familiar sight of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge in the background.