Australia at the Olympics

Australia at the Olympics
IOC code	AUS
NOC	Australian Olympic Committee
Website	www.olympics.com.au
Medals Ranked 14th	Gold 182 Silver 188 Bronze 223 Total 593
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 2024
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)

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 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 there was originally a belief 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. Australia and New Zealand would be represented by Australasia at the IOC until 1920, although the two nations would only compete as a single entity at the 1908 and 1912. From 1920 onwards, both nations would be represented and compete as separate nations.^[2]

Australia became the first country in the Southern Hemisphere to host the games at 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.^[3]

While Australia had frequently overachieved at the Summer Olympic Games, this came to a head 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. The first time Australia had not won Gold since the 1936 Summer Olympics. This caused an uproar in Australia, with the government-funded Australian Institute of Sport founded in 1981. Since the formation of the AIS, Australia has only finished with less than 20 medals once in 1988, and has won at least 3 Gold medals at every Olympics. ^[4][5]

While Australia has focused largely on the Summer Olympics, they have been represented at every Winter Olympics since 1952, despite this, it would take until the 1994 Winter Olympics to win their 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.^[6]

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

Australia has unsuccessfully bid for the Games on three other occasions:^[7]

Date	Team
1900–1904	Australia (AUS)
1908–1912	Australasia (ANZ)
1920–	Australia (AUS)	New Zealand (NZL)

Australia at the Summer Olympics [edit]   Host country 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 3 0 3 1 4 11 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 81 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 470 17 7 22 46 6 2024 Paris 461 12 8 7 27 4 2028 Los Angeles future event 2032 Brisbane future event Total 176 181 217 574 10

Australia at the Winter Olympics [edit] Games Athletes  Gold  Silver  Bronze Total Rank 1924 Chamonix did not participate 1928 St. Moritz 1932 Lake Placid 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 8 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 43 1 2 1 4 18 2026 Milano Cortina future event 2030 French Alps 2034 Salt Lake City Total 6 7 6 19 26

Sport	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Swimming	69	70	73	212
Athletics	21	27	28	76
Cycling	15	19	20	54
Rowing	13	15	16	44
Sailing	13	8	8	29
Equestrian	6	4	4	14
Canoeing	5	8	14	27
Shooting	5	1	5	11
Field hockey	4	4	5	13
Diving	3	3	8	14
Triathlon	1	2	2	5
Tennis	1	1	4	6
Weightlifting	1	1	2	4
Beach volleyball	1	1	1	3
Taekwondo	1	1	0	2
Archery	1	0	2	3
Water polo	1	0	2	3
Modern pentathlon	1	0	0	1
Rugby sevens	1	0	0	1
Skateboarding	1	0	0	1
Basketball	0	3	3	6
Boxing	0	1	4	5
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
Marathon swimming	0	0	1	1
Surfing	0	0	1	1
Totals (29 entries)	164	173	210	547

Sport	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Freestyle skiing	4	3	2	9
Snowboarding	1	3	2	6
Short track speed skating	1	0	1	2
Skeleton	0	1	0	1
Alpine skiing	0	0	1	1
Totals (5 entries)	6	7	6	19

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 558 medals at the Summer Olympics (167 gold, 177 silver and 214 bronze).^[8]

According to official data of the International Olympic Committee, this is a list of people who have won three or more Olympic gold medals for Australia. 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
Mollie O'Callaghan	Swimming	2020–2024	Summer	F	5	1	2	8
Kaylee McKeown	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.

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.

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

Australia first qualified for Olympic football in the 1956 games in Melbourne as hosts.

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.

• 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

• "Australia". International Olympic Committee. 27 July 2021.
• "Australia". Olympedia.com.
• "Olympic Analytics/AUS". olympanalyt.com.
• Australia NOC