Australia at the Olympics
IOC code	AUS
NOC	Australian Olympic Committee
Website	www.olympics.com.au
Medals Ranked 14th	Gold 170 Silver 180 Bronze 216 Total 566
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)

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]

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.

History

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 is the first country in history in the Southern Hemisphere to host the games.They 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. The country is due to host the Summer Olympics a third time in 2032 in Brisbane. In the Summer Olympics since 2000, Australia has placed 4th, 4th, 6th, 8th*, 10th and 6th 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 Emma McKeon 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 team's 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.

Olympic bids and hosted Games

Overview of Olympic participation

Timeline of participation

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

Australia at the Summer Olympics   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 future event 2028 Los Angeles 2032 Brisbane future event Total 164 173 210 547 10

Australia at the Winter Olympics 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 Milan–Cortina future event Total 6 7 6 19 26

Medals by summer sport

  Leading in that sport

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

Medals by winter sport

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).^[9]

Medals by individual

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
Ian Thorpe	Swimming	2000–2004	Summer	M	5	3	1	9
Emma McKeon	Swimming	2016–2020	Summer	F	5	2	4	11
Dawn Fraser	Swimming	1956–1964	Summer	F	4	4	0	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	1992–2020	Summer	M	3	2	1	6
Shirley Strickland	Athletics	1948–1956	Summer	F	3	1	3	7
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
Kaylee McKeown	Swimming	2020	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.

Summary by sport

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

Notes

References

External links

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