AUSTRALIA HAS A long and proud Olympic history. As a country whose national identity is built on sport, the level of patriotism present within our borders at any given time can often be determined by assessing the success of Australia’s most recent Olympic campaign. Thankfully, for the country’s sake, Australia has had more successful Olympic campaigns than not.
Australian athletes have competed at every edition of the modern Olympics since their establishment in 1896. They’ve also only missed a single winter Olympics, winning a total of 566 medals along the way. All this means is that condensing those 128 years and 49 Olympics into a simple top 15 list is a task of Herculean difficulty, one that cannot be done without eschewing a few golden moments. It’s made even more difficult by the vast amount of time involved. How can we honestly compare Edwin Flack’s three-medal haul at the 1896 Games to the men’s basketball team’s first ever medal at Tokyo 2020 without at least a little bias?
So, with Paris 2024 set to be Australia’s 30th summer Olympics, we’re certain a few more entries to this list will be made. But before they are, we’ve taken up the unenviable task of ranking Australia’s greatest Olympic moments to date. We’re sure you won’t be pleased with every decision. We’d also like to see you do any better.
15. Betty Cuthbert pulls off the trifecta (Melbourne 1956)
One of Australia’s first golden girls, Betty Cuthbert won gold medals in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay in athletics at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. She was the first female or male Australian athlete to win three gold medals at a single Games. What’s even more impressive is that Cuthbert won her fourth gold medal eight years later at the 1964 Tokyo Games in an entirely different event, the 400m. She remains the only athlete to win gold in the 100m, 200m and 400m. Due to the heightened specialisation of sprinters today, we doubt anyone will ever match her record.
14. Alisa Camplin becomes Australia’s first female winter Olympic gold medallist (Salt Lake City 2002)
Alisa Camplin missed out on being Australia’s first ever winter Olympic gold medallist by just two days, but that doesn’t make her accomplishment any less impressive. Camplin won the women’s freestyle skiing aerials at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics despite being advised by doctors not to compete due to an injury sustained a few weeks earlier and having never won a world cup event beforehand. Of course, her achievement was largely overshadowed by another odds-defying underdog story at the same Games – more on that later.
13. The Oarsome Foursome (Barcelona 1992)
The Australian men’s coxless four rowing team, better known by their catchy nickname of ‘Oarsome Foursome’, had the entire country behind them at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. The team comprising Nick Green, Mike McKay, James Tomkins, and Andrew Cooper dominated their competition, winning the gold medal with ease and setting a standard to be followed by future Australian rowers. It’s no surprise Australia is now one of the most dominant forces in rowing.
12. Matthew Mitcham nails the dive of a lifetime (Beijing 2008)
Heading into the final of the men’s 10m platform at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, host nation China had won gold in all seven other diving events. A complete sweep of the diving medals looked likely, especially when China’s Zhou Luxin entered the final round leading the pack by 108 points. Sitting in second place, Matthew Mitcham needed to pull off one the highest scoring dives in history to close the deficit. And he did it. Mitcham’s final dive was nearly perfect and scored 112.10 points, the most in Olympic history until 2021.
11. Ariarne Titmus dethrones the queen of the pool (Tokyo 2020)
Entering the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Katie Ledecky had never finished anything but first in an individual Olympic final. The American had racked up six Olympic medals and a whopping 18 world championship medals at that point, establishing herself as one of the greatest swimmers of all time, and naturally, the favourite to win the 400m freestyle. Then came Ariarne Titmus, who overpowered Ledecky over the last lap in Tokyo to claim her maiden gold medal in what became one of the most memorable moments in recent Australian Olympic history. Her coach, Dean Boxall, having an out of body experience celebrating from the stands was another highlight.
10. Ian Thorpe wins the ‘race of the century’ (Athens 2004)
Ian Thorpe was already an established Olympic superstar entering the 2004 Athens Games, but his status as one of Australia’s greatest ever athletes was cemented after he won what was billed as the ‘race of the century’ – the 200m freestyle.
Featuring a lineup that included Thorpe (the silver medallist in the event at the previous Olympics and incumbent world record holder), Pieter van den Hoogenband (the defending Olympic champion) and Michael Phelps (who needs no introduction as the most decorated Olympian ever), the race was so stacked with talent that even a former world record holder in the event, Grant Hackett, was only considered an outside chance at medalling. Thorpe ultimately touched the wall first in what was arguably the finest moment in his illustrious individual career.
9. Sally Pearson goes for gold in the 110m hurdles, at long last (London 2012)
Australia hadn’t even won a medal in the 110m hurdles until Sally Pearson came along. The nation isn’t really known for its hurdlers, but Pearson ended the medal drought in 2008 when she won silver, before going one better in London and winning gold. Pearson claimed the top honour by a measly 0.02 second margin, which meant we had to agonisingly wait for almost a minute after the race before her win was confirmed and the nation breathed a collective sigh of relief. Pearson remains the last Australian to win a gold medal on the track.
8. Rose gold Boomers (Tokyo 2020)
After years of let-downs, close calls and downright bad luck, the Australian men’s basketball team finally broke its duck by defeating Slovenia in the bronze medal game in Tokyo, after finishing in fourth place at four previous Games. The medal, which the Boomers call ‘rose gold’ with pride, represented the culmination of years of hard work to get Australian basketball where it is today. As the great Andrew Gaze said after the game, “Tonight we saw 12 Australian athletes get a reward for the work done by generations beforehand.”
7. Anna Meares completes the comeback on enemy turf (London 2012)
Anna Meares became the first female Australian to win gold in track cycling in 2004, but her career was nearly derailed by a high-speed crash in the lead-up to the 2008 Games, which caused a spinal injury and could’ve made her a quadriplegic. Clearly not at her best, Meares still managed a silver medal in Beijing, but the gold went to her archrival, Great Britain’s Victoria Pendleton. A chance at redemption in her rival’s territory at the London 2012 Games was too good to pass up. Early in the final, Meares allowed Pendleton to take the lead and race ahead, a tactic that paid dividends as Meares retook the lead on the final lap to complete her comeback and win a second gold medal.
6. Kieren Perkins wins the 1500m freestyle from lane 8 (Atlanta 1996)
If ever someone doesn’t recognise the name Kieren Perkins, following up with a simple “lane eight” should certainly jog their memory. The swimmer has become synonymous with the lane, after entering the 1500m freestyle final at the Atlanta 1996 Games with the slowest qualifying time, but blowing away the competition with 30 lung-busting laps to take gold. An unforgettable medal against immeasurable odds.
5. Dawn Fraser threepeats, amid controversy (Tokyo 1964)
Dawn Fraser immortalised herself in Australian sporting folklore after her performance at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, which included a gold medal in the 100m freestyle. Four years later, she went back-to-back, winning the event for a second time. Then, in the twilight of her career at the Tokyo 1964 Games, Fraser did it again. This was only months after being involved in a car crash that left her mother dead, and herself seriously injured. Fraser’s misbehaviour in Tokyo, which included wearing an older swimsuit instead of the Australian Olympic team’s officially sanctioned one and, as the story goes, stealing an Olympic flag from Emperor Hirohito’s palace, eventually saw her banned from competitive swimming, It didn’t matter though, she was set to retire anyway and had already become the first swimmer to win the same event at three successive Olympics.
4. Peter Norman stands in solidarity (Mexico City 1968)
INSTAGRAM | @olympics
The photograph of American athletes John Carlos and Tommie Smith with their fists raised on the medal dais at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics is one of the most recognisable images in human history, let alone Olympic history for its significance in the civil rights movement. Also featuring in that photo is Australian Peter Norman, who participated in the protest by virtue of showing solidarity, donning an Olympic Project for Human Rights badge. But let’s not forget what an achievement it was to even be standing there. Norman’s silver medal time of 20.06 seconds remains the Australian 200m record 56 years on.
3. Steven Bradbury does a Bradbury and wins Australia’s first Winter Olympic gold medal (Salt Lake City 2002)
A moment so iconic it developed into a colloquialism, Steven Bradbury became Australia’s first winter Olympic gold medallist by, well, doing a Bradbury – that is, to win in unexpected circumstances. Making the 1000m speed skating final thanks to some helpful disqualifications and crashes from opponents, Bradbury adopted a sit back and hope they crash tactic in the final. It worked, all four of Bradbury’s competitors piled up on the last corner, clearing the way for the plucky Aussie to claim victory.
2. Ian Thorpe storms home and the 4x100m freestyle relay team smashes the Americans like guitars (Sydney 2000)
Who could forget when American swimmer Gary Hall Jr lit a fire under Australia’s population, unleashing national sporting fervour after being quoted as saying “My biased opinion says that we will smash them like guitars” in a magazine article. Hall was speaking, of course, of the rival Australian 4x100m freestyle team, and it came back to bite him. The USA had won the 4x100m freestyle relay at every Olympics since the event was introduced in 1964, but Australia had had enough by the opening night of Sydney 2000. Michael Klim broke the 100m world record in his opening leg, before Ian Thorpe stamped his name in Olympic history by storming home on the last leg to overtake Hall, breaking the world record and sending Australia into raptures.
1. The entire nation watches Cathy Freeman win gold (Sydney 2000)
Where were you when Cathy Freeman won her gold medal? Freeman’s efforts at the Sydney 2000 Olympics are the closest Australia has come to single, unifying event. What she achieved will be talked about for decades, passed down from generation to generation and forever remembered as one of the proudest moments in Australia’s history. Freeman brought the nation together for the final of the 400m, donning a lycra bodysuit and claiming gold in front of a crowd of 112,524 spectators – and surely many millions more watching on from home. She then embarked on a lengthy victory lap around Stadium Australia, draped in both the Australian and Aboriginal flags. We doubt there will ever be another moment like it, but we could be wrong. Maybe Paris 2024 will feature something that can top this list.
Related:
24 athletes to watch at the 2024 Paris Olympics
Olympic coaches share their secrets for boosting mental performance
