Australia at the Olympics

Australia has sent athletes to all editions of the modern Olympic Games. Australia has competed in 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 code	AUS
NOC	Australian Olympic Committee
Website	www.olympics.com.au
Medals Ranked 14th	Gold 152 Silver 168 Bronze 192 Total 512
Summer appearances
1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020
Winter appearances
1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
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]

The Australian Olympic Committee was founded and recognised in 1895. Edwin Flack was the first athlete to represent Australia at the Olympics. He won gold in both the 800 metres and the 1500 metres, competed in the marathon and won a bronze medal in tennis doubles at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Australia's kit is green and gold.[2][3][4]

Australia has hosted the Summer Olympic games twice: in 1956 in Melbourne and in 2000 in Sydney. Australia finished 3rd and 4th in the respective medal counts. In the Summer Olympics since 2000, Australia has placed 4th, 4th, 6th, 8th* and 10th respectively. (*Australia initially finished in 10th position in 2012, but 8th position after the redistributed gold medal to Jared Tallent). Given Australia has a population of only around 23 million people (ranked 53rd in the world[5]), this fact is frequently cited as noteworthy, and is ostensibly due to a strong sporting culture.[6] Other observers have suggested this may also be a result of the generous funding the Australian Government has invested into elite sports development with the specific intention of improving performance at the Olympic games.[7][8] Prior to Montreal, there was no government funding, however.

Many of Australia's gold medals have come in swimming, a sport which is popular in Australia, with swimmers from Dawn Fraser to Ian Thorpe ranking among the sport's all-time greats. Other sports where Australia has historically been strong include:

• field hockey, with the women's team winning three gold medals between 1988 and 2000 and the men's team winning in 2004;
• cycling, particularly track cycling;
• rowing;
• equestrian events and specifically the three-day teams eventing;
• and sailing.

Australia takes international sporting competition, particularly the Olympics, very seriously, and provides much government funding and coaching support to elite athletes, partly through the Australian Institute of Sport. Australia has been more modestly successful in the track events at the games, particularly in modern times. Historically, Betty Cuthbert is Australia's most successful track athlete with four gold medals (three in 1956 and one in 1964).

Australia did not win a medal at the Winter Olympics until 1994, but has moved higher on the medal tallies since then (ranking 13th at Vancouver 2010). This is a reflection on increased funding of Australia's Olympic Winter Games team .

Hosted Games

Australia have hosted the Games on two events:

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

Unsuccessful bids

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

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

Medal tables

See also: All-time Olympic Games medal table

*Red border colour indicates tournament was held on home soil.

Medals by Summer Games Games Athletes Gold Silver Bronze Total Rank 1896 Athens 1 2 0 0 2 8 1900 Paris 3 2 0 3 5 9 1904 St. Louis 2 0 0 0 0 – 1908 London as part of  Australasia (ANZ) 1912 Stockholm 1920 Antwerp 13 0 2 1 3 16 1924 Paris 37 3 1 2 6 11 1928 Amsterdam 18 1 2 1 4 19 1932 Los Angeles 12 3 1 1 5 10 1936 Berlin 33 0 0 1 1 30 1948 London 77 2 6 5 13 14 1952 Helsinki 85 6 2 3 11 9 1956 Melbourne 314 13 8 14 35 3 1960 Rome 188 8 8 6 22 5 1964 Tokyo 234 6 2 10 18 8 1968 Mexico City 175 5 7 5 17 9 1972 Munich 173 8 7 2 17 6 1976 Montreal 184 0 1 4 5 32 1980 Moscow 123 2 2 5 9 15 1984 Los Angeles 240 4 8 12 24 14 1988 Seoul 270 3 6 5 14 15 1992 Barcelona 290 7 9 11 27 10 1996 Atlanta 424 9 9 23 41 7 2000 Sydney 630 16 25 17 58 4 2004 Athens 482 17 16 17 50 4 2008 Beijing 433 14 15 17 46 6 2012 London 410 8 15 12 35 8 2016 Rio de Janeiro 422 8 11 10 29 10 2020 Tokyo Future event 2024 Paris Future event 2028 Los Angeles Future event Total 147 163 187 497 11

Medals by Winter Games Games Athletes Gold Silver Bronze Total Rank 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1 0 0 0 0 – 1948 St. Moritz did not participate 1952 Oslo 9 0 0 0 0 – 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo 10 0 0 0 0 – 1960 Squaw Valley 31 0 0 0 0 – 1964 Innsbruck 6 0 0 0 0 – 1968 Grenoble 3 0 0 0 0 – 1972 Sapporo 4 0 0 0 0 – 1976 Innsbruck 8 0 0 0 0 – 1980 Lake Placid 10 0 0 0 0 – 1984 Sarajevo 10 0 0 0 0 – 1988 Calgary 18 0 0 0 0 – 1992 Albertville 23 0 0 0 0 – 1994 Lillehammer 25 0 0 1 1 22 1998 Nagano 24 0 0 1 1 22 2002 Salt Lake City 27 2 0 0 2 15 2006 Turin 40 1 0 1 2 17 2010 Vancouver 40 2 1 0 3 13 2014 Sochi 60 0 2 1 3 24 2018 Pyeongchang 51 0 2 1 3 23 2022 Beijing Future event 2026 Milan–Cortina Future event Total 5 5 5 15 25

Medals by summer sport   Leading in that sport Sport Gold Silver Bronze Total Swimming 60 64 64 188 Athletics 21 26 26 73 Cycling 14 19 18 51 Rowing 11 15 14 40 Sailing 11 8 8 27 Equestrian 6 3 3 12 Shooting 5 1 5 11 Field hockey 4 3 5 12 Canoeing 3 8 13 24 Diving 3 3 7 13 Triathlon 1 2 2 5 Tennis 1 1 3 5 Weightlifting 1 1 2 4 Taekwondo 1 1 0 2 Archery 1 0 2 3 Water polo 1 0 2 3 Beach volleyball 1 0 1 2 Modern pentathlon 1 0 0 1 Rugby sevens 1 0 0 1 Basketball 0 3 2 5 Boxing 0 1 3 4 Softball 0 1 3 4 Wrestling 0 1 2 3 Baseball 0 1 0 1 Gymnastics 0 1 0 1 Judo 0 0 2 2 Totals (26 sports) 147 163 187 497

Medals by winter sport Sport Gold Silver Bronze Total Freestyle skiing 3 3 2 8 Snowboarding 1 2 1 4 Short track speed skating 1 0 1 2 Alpine skiing 0 0 1 1 Totals (4 sports) 5 5 5 15

These totals do not include 15 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); 1 bronze medal won in tennis by Edwin Flack in 1896; and 4 medals (3 silver and 1 bronze) won in swimming by Francis Gailey, an Australian immigrant to America, in 1904. The AOC therefore recognises Australia as having won 512 medals at the Summer Olympics (150 gold, 170 silver and 192 bronze).[9]

Most successful Olympians

	Name	Sport	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1.	Ian Thorpe	Swimming	5	3	1	9
2.	Dawn Fraser	Swimming	4	4	0	8
3.	Libby Trickett	Swimming	4	1	2	7
4.	Murray Rose	Swimming	4	1	1	6
5.	Betty Cuthbert	Athletics	4	0	0	4
6.	Leisel Jones	Swimming	3	5	1	9
7.	Petria Thomas	Swimming	3	4	1	8
8.	Grant Hackett	Swimming	3	3	1	7
9.	Shirley Strickland	Athletics	3	1	3	7
10.	Shane Gould	Swimming	3	1	1	5
11.	Drew Ginn	Rowing	3	1	0	4
11.	Andrew Hoy	Equestrian	3	1	0	4
13.	James Tomkins	Rowing	3	0	1	4
14.	Matthew Ryan	Equestrian	3	0	0	3
14.	Rechelle Hawkes	Field hockey	3	0	0	3
14.	Jodie Henry	Swimming	3	0	0	3
14.	Stephanie Rice	Swimming	3	0	0	3
18.	Susie O'Neill	Swimming	2	4	2	8
19.	Michael Klim	Swimming	2	3	1	6
20.	Brittany Elmslie	Swimming	2	3	0	5
20.	Emily Seebohm	Swimming	2	3	0	5

Summary by sport

Athletics

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	Athletes	Events	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1896 Athens	1	3/12	2	0	0	2
Total			21	26	26	73

Event	No. of appearances	First appearance	First medal	First gold medal	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total	Best finish
Men's 800 metres	17/28	1896	1896	1896	2	0	0	2	(1896, 1968)
Men's 1500 metres	19/28	1896	1896	1896	2	0	1	3	(1896, 1960)

See also

• List of flag bearers for Australia at the Olympics
• Australia at the Winter Olympics
• Australia at the Commonwealth Games
• Australia at the Universiade
• Australia at the World Championships in Athletics
• Category:Olympic competitors for Australia

References

1. 2012 Australian uniform
2. Australian National Colours: green and gold Retrieved 23 August 2012
3. Golden Wattle Retrieved 23 August 2012
4. Our national symbols Retrieved 23 August 2012
5. CIA – The World Factbook
6. O, Noel (8 August 2012). "By population, Australia is on top of the medal tally". The Roar. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
7. Olympic Games | Crawford Report | Sports Funding | Richard Evans
8. "www.nationalpost.com/scripts/feeds/story.html?id=2210902". Retrieved January 8, 2010.
9. https://www.olympics.com.au/games/st-louis-1904

External links

• "Australia". International Olympic Committee.
• "Australia". Olympedia.com.
• "Olympic Analytics/AUS". olympanalyt.com.
• Australia NOC