Australia at the Olympics facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Australia at the Olympics
IOC code	AUS
NOC	Australian Olympic Committee
Medals Ranked 14th	Gold Silver Bronze Total 188 199 232 619
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
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.

Australia has a long and proud history at the Olympics. Australian athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games. They have also taken part in almost every Winter Olympics, missing only a few early ones. For a short time in 1908 and 1912, Australia teamed up with New Zealand and competed as Australasia.

Australia's Olympic Journey: A History

Australia has been part of every Summer Olympics since the very first one. In 1894, a New Zealander named Leonard Cuff worked with Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who started the modern Olympics, to make sure Australia and New Zealand could be represented.

At the first Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens, it was thought no Australian athletes would be able to go. However, Edwin Flack, an Australian accountant living in London, managed to get time off work. He traveled to Athens and won two gold medals in running events (800 and 1500 meters) for Australia.

From 1896 until 1920, Australia and New Zealand were often grouped together as "Australasia" at the Olympics. However, they competed as separate countries in 1908 and 1912. After 1920, they officially competed as individual nations.

Australia was the first country in the Southern Hemisphere to host the Olympic Games. This happened in Melbourne in 1956. Later, Sydney hosted the 2000 Summer Olympics in 2000. Australia is set to host the Summer Olympics for a third time in Brisbane in 2032.

For many years, Australia did very well at the Summer Olympics, often winning many gold medals. But at the 1976 Olympic Games, things changed. Australia won no gold medals and only five medals in total. This was a big shock! It was the first time Australia hadn't won a gold medal since the 1936 Summer Olympics. Because of this, the Australian government created the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in 1981. Since the AIS was formed, Australia has done much better, consistently winning many medals at each Summer Olympics.

Even though Australia focuses a lot on the Summer Olympics, they have also competed in the Winter Olympics since 1936. Ken Kennedy was Australia's first Winter Olympian, competing in speed skating. He was the only Australian at those games. It took until 1994 for Australia to win its first Winter Olympic medal, a bronze in short-track speed skating. After Zali Steggall won Australia's first individual medal in skiing at the 1998 Winter Olympics, the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia was created. This led to Australia's first Winter Olympic gold medals in 2002, won by Steve Bradbury (short track speed skating) and Alisa Camplin (freestyle skiing).

Olympic Cities: Hosting and Bidding

Australia has proudly hosted the Olympic Games twice and will host them again in 2032.

Cities That Hosted the Games

Cities That Tried to Host (Unsuccessful Bids)

Australia also tried to host the Games three other times but wasn't chosen:

Australia's Olympic Journey: A Closer Look

How Australia Has Competed Over Time

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

Australia at the Summer Olympics       Host country Games Athletes 1 Gold 2 Silver 3 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 18 19 16 53 4 2028 Los Angeles future event future event Total 182 192 226 600 4

Australia at the Winter Olympics Games Athletes 1 Gold 2 Silver 3 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 Milan/Cortina future event Total 6 7 6 19 26

It's important to know that the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) counts some extra medals. These include 10 medals won by Australians who competed for the "Australasia" team in 1908 and 1912. Also, a bronze medal won by Edwin Flack in tennis in 1896 is counted. So, the AOC believes Australia has won 611 medals at the Summer Olympics in total.

Top Australian Olympic Athletes

This list shows Australian athletes who have won three or more Olympic gold medals.

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.

For the Winter Olympics, Dale Begg-Smith and Torah Bright are Australia's most successful athletes. Each has won one gold and one silver medal. Steven Bradbury, Alisa Camplin, and Lydia Lassila each won one gold and one bronze medal.

Emma McKeon holds the record for the most medals won by an Australian at a single Olympic Games. She won 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.

Australian Olympic Sports Highlights

Swimming

Australia first competed in swimming at the 1900 Games. Frederick Lane won two gold medals there. Swimming quickly became a very strong sport for Australia. As of the 2020 Games, Australia has the second-most gold and total medals in swimming, right after the United States.

Athletics

Australia's first Olympic appearance was in athletics at the 1896 Games. Edwin Flack was the only Australian athlete, and he won two gold medals!

Canoeing

Cycling

Rowing

Sailing

Skateboarding

Keegan Palmer made history by winning Australia’s first skateboarding gold medal in the Men’s Park event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, both Keegan Palmer and Arisa Trew won gold in their Men's and Women's Park events.

Tennis

Australia first competed in tennis at the 1896 Games. Edwin Flack won a bronze medal in men's doubles with his partner. Australia's first tennis gold medal was won by "the Woodies" (Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde) in men's doubles in 1996. They also won Australia's only silver medal in tennis four years later. In 2024, Matthew Ebden and John Peers won the men's doubles, giving Australia its second tennis gold.

See also

In Spanish: Australia en los Juegos Olímpicos para niños

• 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