The Games was an Australian mockumentary TV series about the run-up to the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

The show was broadcast on the ABC and starred noted satirists John Clarke and Bryan Dawe along with Australian comedian Gina Riley, and was written by John Clarke and Ross Stevenson. It centred on the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG), and satirised corruption and cronyism in the Olympic movement, bureaucratism within the Australian Public Service, and unethical behaviour within politics and the media. The show is unusual in that characters were given the same name as the actors who played them, a stylistic decision to enhance the illusion that it is a documentary on the Sydney Games.

John Clarke plays "Olympic Supremo" and head of the "liaison and logistics team", an undefined but important subsection of SOCOG. Clarke was apparently a former Olympic champion, but ducked the question whenever asked about which event he competed in. Gina Riley plays the harassed head of marketing for the team, and Bryan Dawe is the team's pessimistic head of accounting. The series also featured actor Nicholas Bell, who played the conniving Secretary to the Minister for the Olympics, a foil of sorts for Clarke's character.

The series had two seasons of 13 episodes, the first in 1998 and the second in 2000, with the final episode broadcast just days before the Opening Ceremony of the real games. In this episode, the three stars and Bell were forced to stand in for The Seekers at the closing ceremony rehearsal to sing "The Carnival Is Over". The Seekers did indeed perform this song, but at the Closing Ceremony of the Paralympics some weeks later.

A cavalcade of Australian celebrities appeared on the show, including John Farnham, Dave Graney, Frank Woodley, Barrie Cassidy, Maxine McKew and a number of others, along with New Zealand actor Sam Neill.

In one celebrated moment, the actor John Howard appeared on a video message intended for overseas release and read an apology to Aboriginal people for crimes committed against them by the Australian government. In the episode in question, a group of overseas countries threatened to boycott the Games unless Prime Minister John Howard gave a public apology to the Aboriginal people. The message was accompanied by John Clarke saying "that's not the Prime Minister," to which Gina Riley replied, "He never said he was. He said he was John Howard." The confusion between the two men has become a frequent joke in Australia, exploited by the small-l liberal actor.

The Games won Most Outstanding Comedy Program at the Logie Awards of 2001.

Season 1 was released on DVD in 2005, a rumoured release of Season 2 is still to appear. Most of the episodes are available on PAL format VHS.

In New Zealand, the series was one of the first programmes to be shown on TVNZ 6 on September 30 2007, the day of the channel's launch.

The Games was a 1970 film based on the Hugh Atkinson novel and adapted to the screen by Erich Segal. It was directed by Michael Winner.

The plot concerned four marathon competitors at the Olympic Games, played by Michael Crawford, Ryan O'Neal, Charles Aznavour, Athol Compton and John Allen. Elton John recorded one song ('From Denver To L.A.') for the soundtrack.

The Games was a Channel 4 reality TV show that ran for four series, in which 10 celebrities competed against each other, by doing Olympic style events, such as weight lifting, gymnastics and diving. At the end of the series, the contestants with the most points from each round were awarded either a gold, silver or bronze medal. The show was mainly filmed in Sheffield, at the Sheffield Arena, Don Valley Stadium and Ponds Forge. In later series, the English Institute of Sport - Sheffield, iceSheffield and for the first time in Series Four the National Watersports Centre in Nottingham were used.

The Games was presented by Jamie Theakston (Series 1-4), with track-side reports from Jayne Middlemiss (Series 1-3) and Kirsty Gallacher (Series 4).

The Games also had an after show on the channel E4 known as The Games: Inside Track and an afternoon show on the same channel called The Games: Live at Trackside both were presented by Justin Lee Collins and Caroline Flack.

The Games is about four marathon runners from different countries who are preparing for the Rome Olympics. The movie takes you through some of the runners personal training schedules before finally showing the marathon. Written by Jenny Evans

This movie follows four marathon runners as they prepare for the Rome Olympic Games. The movie isn't just about athletics, it explores the human condition and the thirst for victory against all costs. Written by Fergus Quinn

The story of four marathon runners and their preparations for the Olympics. One is a British runner with a highly demanding coach. Another is an American who participates even though it might kill him. Another is a Czech who competes for the glory of his country and the final runner is an Aborigionie who competes not only as a way of leaving his meager existence, but as a way of showing the plight of his people. Written by Brian Washington

It's the countdown to the Sydney 2000 Olympics, and the Head of Administration and Logistics, John Clarke, and his colleagues, Bryan Dawe, Head of Accounts, Budgeting and Finance, and Gina Riley, Marketing and Liaison Manager wish everyone to know that everything is running smoothly. Certainly, the running track is not actually 100 meters, allowing Bryan to break the world record - but we can always put a bend in it, that's no problem. And 30% of the athletes and their sponsors may refuse to come because of the new fool-proof drug test - but that's a small price to pay to be known as the the very first drugs-free Olympics. And as for the rumours about the recently deceased IOC VIP dying in a King's Cross brothel - nonsense. That's just media hype. As are the rumours that the fencing may be dropped because there aren't enough venues or that the la crosse centre isn't actually built yet. In future may we suggest you not believe everything you see on television? Written by Roseanne Hodge

Series Winners (male): - Series 1: MC Harvey - Series 2: Jarrod Batchelor and Shane Lynch (joint) - Series 3: Philip Olivier (I) - Series 4: Jade Jones

Series Winners (female): - Series 1: Azra Akin and Terri Dwyer (joint) - Series 2: Isabella Hervey - Series 3: Kirsty Gallacher - Series 4: Javine Hylton

Winners in 2006 were Jade Jones and Javine Hylton.