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Australia at the Olympics

Australia has sent athletes to every Summer Olympic Games, as well as every Winter Olympics except 1924–32 and 1948. In 1908 and 1912 Australia competed with New Zealand under the name Australasia.

Australia at the
Olympics
IOC codeAUS
NOCAustralian Olympic Committee
Websitewww.olympics.com.au
Medals
Ranked 14th
Gold
188
Silver
199
Bronze
232
Total
619
Summer appearances
Winter appearances
Other related appearances
1906 Intercalated Games

––––

 Australasia (1908–1912)
Australian Olympic Team Uniforms unveiled for Rio 2016
Australian Olympic athletes in 1932 wearing the traditional uniform of a dark green blazer trimmed with yellow, still in use at the London 2012 opening ceremony.[1]

History

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Australia has been represented at every Summer Olympics. New Zealander Leonard Cuff, an athletics administrator, organised with both Baron Pierre de Coubertin and head of the English Amateur Athletics Federation Charles Herbert, for Australasia to be represented at the first International Olympic Committee meetings in 1894. While it was initially thought that no Australian (or New Zealand) athlete would be able to compete at the 1896 Summer Olympics, Edwin Flack, an Australian accountant and amateur athlete working in London, was able to obtain leave and travelled to Athens, where he won Gold in the 800 and 1500 metres, representing Australia.[2] Australia and New Zealand were represented by Australasia at the IOC until 1920, although the two nations competed as individual entities at the 1908 and 1912 games. From 1920 onwards, they competed as separate nations.[3]

Australia became the first country in the Southern Hemisphere to host the games, hosting the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, before hosting the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Australia is due to host the Summer Olympics for the third time at the 2032 Summer Olympics in Brisbane.[4]

While Australia had frequently overachieved at the Summer Olympic Games, this came to a halt at the 1976 Olympic Games. After winning at least five gold medals and seventeen total medals at every Olympics since 1956, Australia won zero gold medals and only five medals in total. This was the first time Australia had not won Gold since the 1936 Summer Olympics. It caused an uproar in Australia, and the government-funded Australian Institute of Sport was subsequently founded in 1981. Since the formation of the AIS, Australia has finished with less than 20 medals only once, in 1988, and has won at least three gold medals at every Summer Olympics since, holding an average of 11 gold medals per Games.[5][6]

While Australia has focused largely on the Summer Olympics, Australia has been represented at the Winter Olympics since 1936 with Ken Kennedy the first Australian Winter Olympian and sole representative. Kennedy competed in the Speed skating in all four events, with a best finish of 29th in the 500 metres. It would take until 1952 for the next representatives, starting an unbroken attendance streak. Despite this long history, it took until the 1994 Winter Olympics to win its first medal: Bronze in the Men's 5000 metre relay. After Zali Steggall won Australia's first individual medal in the Women's Slalom at the 1998 Winter Olympics, the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia was founded, leading to Australia's first Winter Olympic gold medals at the 2002 Winter Olympics with Steve Bradbury winning the Men's 1000 metres and Alisa Camplin winning the Women's aerials.[7]

Olympic bids and hosted Games

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Hosted Games

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Australia has hosted the Olympic Games twice and will host again in 2032:

Games Host city Dates Nations Participants Events
1956 Summer Olympics Melbourne, Victoria 22 November–8 December 72 3,314 151
2000 Summer Olympics Sydney, New South Wales 15 September–1 October 199 10,651 300
2032 Summer Olympics Brisbane, Queensland 23 July–8 August TBD TBD TBD

Unsuccessful bids

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Australia has unsuccessfully bid for the Games on three other occasions:[8]

Games Proposed host city Awarded to
1988 Summer Olympics Melbourne, Victoria Seoul, South Korea
1992 Summer Olympics Brisbane, Queensland Barcelona, Spain
1996 Summer Olympics Melbourne, Victoria Atlanta, United States

Overview of Olympic participation

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See also: All-time Olympic Games medal table

Timeline of participation

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Date Team
1896-1904   Australia (AUS)
1908–1912   Australasia (ANZ)
1920–   Australia (AUS)   New Zealand (NZL)


These totals do not include 11 medals recognised by the Australian Olympic Committee: 10 medals (3 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze) won by Australians competing for the combined Australasia team in 1908 and 1912 (8 by individuals, 1 by an exclusively Australian team and 1 by a combined team) and 1 bronze medal won in tennis by Edwin Flack in 1896. The AOC therefore recognises Australia as having won 611 medals at the Summer Olympics (185 gold, 196 silver and 230 bronze).[9]

Medals by individual

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This is a list of people who have won at least three Olympic gold medals for Australia, based upon data from the International Olympic Committee. Medals won in the 1906 Intercalated Games are not included. It includes top-three placings in 1896 and 1900, before medals were awarded for top-three placings.

Athlete Sport Years Games Gender       Total
Emma McKeon   Swimming 2016–2024 Summer F 6 3 5 14
Ian Thorpe   Swimming 2000–2004 Summer M 5 3 1 9
Kaylee McKeown   Swimming 2020–2024 Summer F 5 1 3 9
Mollie O'Callaghan   Swimming 2020–2024 Summer F 5 1 2 8
Dawn Fraser   Swimming 1956–1964 Summer F 4 4 0 8
Ariarne Titmus   Swimming 2020–2024 Summer F 4 3 1 8
Cate Campbell   Swimming 2008–2020 Summer F 4 1 3 8
Libby Trickett   Swimming 2004–2012 Summer F 4 1 2 7
Murray Rose   Swimming 1956–1960 Summer M 4 1 1 6
Betty Cuthbert   Athletics 1956–1964 Summer F 4 0 0 4
Leisel Jones   Swimming 2000–2012 Summer F 3 5 1 9
Petria Thomas   Swimming 1996–2004 Summer F 3 4 1 8
Grant Hackett   Swimming 2000–2008 Summer M 3 3 1 7
Emily Seebohm   Swimming 2008–2020 Summer F 3 3 1 7
Andrew Hoy   Equestrian 1984–2020 Summer M 3 2 1 6
Shirley Strickland   Athletics 1948–1956 Summer F 3 1 3 7
Jessica Fox   Canoeing 2012–2024 Summer F 3 1 2 6
Shane Gould   Swimming 1972 Summer F 3 1 1 5
Drew Ginn   Rowing 1996–2012 Summer M 3 1 0 4
James Tomkins   Rowing 1992–2004 Summer M 3 0 1 4
Bronte Campbell   Swimming 2012–2024 Summer F 3 0 1 4
Matthew Ryan   Equestrian 1992–2000 Summer M 3 0 0 3
Rechelle Hawkes   Field Hockey 1988–2000 Summer F 3 0 0 3
Jodie Henry   Swimming 2004 Summer F 3 0 0 3
Stephanie Rice   Swimming 2008–2012 Summer F 3 0 0 3
  • People in bold are still active competitors

Dale Begg-Smith and Torah Bright are the most successful Australian athletes at the Winter Olympics, with one gold medal and one silver each (Steven Bradbury, Alisa Camplin, and Lydia Lassila all won one gold and one bronze medal). Emma McKeon is the most prolific athlete at a single games, winning 7 medals (4 gold, 3 bronze) at the 2020 Olympics. While Lauren Jackson never won a gold medal, she is the only Australian to win medals in five different Olympics.

Summary by sport

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Swimming

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Australia first competed in swimming at the 1900 Games, with Frederick Lane competing in two events and winning gold medals in both. The sport would become a strength of the nation, which (as of the 2020 Games) has the second-most gold and second-most total medals behind the United States.

Games Gold Silver Bronze Total
Total 76 78 76 230

Athletics

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Australia first competed in athletics at the inaugural 1896 Games, with 1 athlete (Edwin Flack) competing in 3 events and winning two of them.

Games Gold Silver Bronze Total
Total 22 29 32 83[10]

Canoeing

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Games Gold Silver Bronze Total
Total 8 9 15 32

Cycling

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Games Gold Silver Bronze Total
Total 18 21 23 62

Rowing

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Games Gold Silver Bronze Total
Total 13 15 17 45

Sailing

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Games Gold Silver Bronze Total
Total 14 9 8 31

Skateboarding

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Keegan Palmer won a gold medal - Australia’s first skateboarding medal in the Men’s Park event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. At the 2024 Paris Olympics both Keegan Palmer and Arisa Trew both won gold at the respective Men and Women’s Park events.

Tennis

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Australia first competed in tennis at the inaugural 1896 Games, with one player competing in men's singles and, as part of a mixed team, in men's doubles. Edwin Flack lost in the first round of the singles, but paired with George S. Robertson to earn bronze in the doubles. The mixed team medal is not credited to Australia. The first tennis gold medal won by Australia was by the Woodies in men's doubles in 1996; the pair also won Australia's only silver medal in the sport four years later. In 2024, Matthew Ebden and John Peers won the men's doubles, providing Australia with its second gold medal in tennis.

Games Gold Silver Bronze Total
Total 2 1 4 7[11]

See also

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Notes

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References

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  1. ^ "2012 Australian uniform". Archived from the original on 2017-07-29. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  2. ^ "Australia's first Olympian". National Museum of Australia. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  3. ^ "100 years of the AOC". Retrieved 4 August 2024.
  4. ^ "100 years of the AOC". Retrieved 4 August 2024.
  5. ^ "Australia's Olympic Medal Tally - Summer Games". Retrieved 4 August 2024.
  6. ^ "Sporting greats share fears for Australia's Olympic standing as Australian Institute of Sport marks 40 years". Retrieved 4 August 2024.
  7. ^ "100 years of the AOC". Retrieved 4 August 2024.
  8. ^ "100 years of the AOC". Retrieved 4 August 2024.
  9. ^ "St Louis 1904". Archived from the original on 2019-08-19. Retrieved 2019-08-19.
  10. ^ Does not include a gold medal for the 5000 metres team race, in which an Australian runner competed with runners from Great Britain.
  11. ^ Does not include a bronze medal won in 1896 by a mixed team with an Australian player.
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