A crowd of more than 50,000 will gather at Sydney's Darling Harbour today to celebrate what the locals are calling "Countdown Day" - marking one year to go before the opening ceremony of the 2000 Olympic Games.

A host of activities have been planned, culminating in a live satellite link to the International Olympic Committee headquarters in Lausanne, where Juan Antonio Samaranch will issue invitations to 200 countries to attend the first Games of the new millennium.

It is a celebration organisers hope will not only show the world just how well their preparations for the Games are going but will also help reignite the Olympic spirit in a city turned cynical by 12 months of IOC scandals.

"We hope this will be the psychological watershed that really brings it home to everyone that the Games are now really close," said Sandy Holloway, the chief executive of the Sydney Olympic Games Organising Committee.

The past 12 months have been the worst in the history of the Olympic movement, with the Salt Lake City bribery scandal and the divisive debate over drugs in sport.

Sydney organisers have inevitably have had to cope with some of the fall-out, most notably the drawn-out Phil Coles saga, which has forced them to slash Stg£29.5-million in projected revenue off its budget and which leaves them still £59 million short of their marketing and sponsorship target.

Coles was the face Australians put on the IOC scandals. Twice censured by the IOC for accepting excessive hospitality from Salt Lake City and for compiling a secret dossier on his colleagues, Coles was stripped of his central role in the Sydney Games but retained his privileged position as an IOC member.

John Coates, one of the most influential Sydney officials, was also tainted by the scandal. He admitted paying two African IOC officials on the eve of the 1993 vote, which Sydney won and led to calls for the Australian city to be stripped of the Games by Beijing and Manchester, its rivals in the bidding.

There have been other problems. Michael Knight, the Games president, was heavily criticised when he dumped around 1,500 American and Japanese student band members from a seven-minute slot in the opening ceremony because he said he believed only Australians should take part.

The issue dominated the local media for weeks and, after court action from the band's organiser, Knight backed down. One newspaper columnist said Knight's handling of the fiasco proved the adage that "the only amateurs left in the Olympics are the officials".

The athletics schedule for Sydney still remains in limbo, with the International Amateur Athletic Federation flexing their muscles to demand changes, leaving the ticket ballot in disarray.

But Sydney believes it is looking in good shape on the big issues, with 90 per cent of the venues already completed and Australians having taken 320,000 multiple ticket orders worth about £146 million.

The Olympic building programme has been one of the unheralded success stories. The 110,000-capacity Stadium Australia, where the opening and closing ceremonies and athletics will be held, has already played host to big matches in both rugby codes, soccer and American football.

The SuperDome is set to begin life with an Australian record basketball crowd and the aquatic centre hosted a universally acclaimed Pan-Pacific swimming championships last month.

"The recent controversies we've seen, and some of the scepticism and cynicism that has come from those, ought not cloud our view of the international idealism that is at the heart of the Olympic Games," Holloway said.

"The ticket sales are a terrific affirmation by Australians of the sentiments that we believed and hoped they felt about the Games."

Potential problems still linger, though. After years of threatening boycotts, Aboriginal leaders have decided on a policy of shaming Australia's governments during the Olympics. Protests are expected during the torch relay, to be begun by the Aboriginal sprinter Nova Peris-Kneebone in June.

Residents of Bondi are also planning to protest against the Games. Anger over a 10,000-seat beach volleyball stadium, which will cut resident access to the beach for several months, has already resulted in the cancellation of a Test event for the sport.

"We have very big challenges ahead," Holloway said. "This is a very big, complex project, but at this stage we're travelling satisfactorily. From now on and especially when we come to 2000, absolutely everyone is conscious of the fact that the Games are just around the corner."