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Aussie Olympic Trivia

Following is a list of fascinating Australian Olympic Games trivia:

• Australia is one of five nations to have participants at every Olympic Games of the modern era. Australia actually was part of a combined Australasia team (Australia and New Zealand) in 1908 and 1912, but it still counts.
• Australia’s first-ever gold medalist was Edwin Flack in Athens 1896 – winning gold medals in the 800m and 1500m running races. See more Aussie Olympic Firsts.
• Australia's first gold medallist, Edwin Flack, also competed in the tennis at the 1896 Olympics, winning a bronze (as part of a mixed team). Although there were five teams competing, Edwin and his partner came third after losing their only match in the semi-final.

• In 1900 in Paris Australian Frederick Lane won an unusual swimming event - the obstacle swimming race [more about the Obstacle Race]
• In 1900 in Paris Australian Donald MacIntosh came third in the live pigeon shooting event, the first and only time animals were killed on purpose in an Olympic event [more about the Pigeon Shooting Event]
• At the 1904 Olympics in St Louis there was only one competitor from Australia.
• In a rowing quarter-final at the 1928 Amsterdam games, Australia's Henry Pearce stopped rowing to allow a family of ducks to pass safely in front of his boat. He still won the heat and took gold in the final.
• Lawrence 'Laurie' Morgan is the only person to play VFL/AFL football and win an Olympic Gold Medal. He played 34 games for Fitzroy in 1937-39, then in 1960 he represented Australia in equestrian, and won two gold medals.
• The first women's Olympic gold medal was won by the Australian Sarah 'Fanny' Durack, who won the 100m freestyle in 1912 in Stockholm.
• Daniel Carroll won gold in rugby at the 1908 Summer Olympics playing for Australia and also gold while playing for the United States at the 1920 Summer Olympics. He later coached the gold-medal winning USA Rugby team at the 1924 Olympics.

The Australian team entering the stadium at the Olympic Games

• On the day the 1948 Olympic Games began at Wembley Stadium in London, June 29, the famed Australian 'Invincibles' cricket side was finishing off England in a test at nearby Lord's, winning by 409 runs.
• The Olympic torchbearer for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, Ron Clarke, was a virtually unknown 19 year old at the time. He went on to become the world's finest distance runner in the 1960s.
• The 1956 Games in Melbourne, Australia, were the first games to be held in the southern hemisphere.
• Betty Cuthbert was the first Australian Olympian to win three gold medals at a Games (Murray Rose achieved this later in the 1956 Games).
• There was an Australian Football demonstration game held at the MCG in 1956 as part of the Olympic Games. On the team were brothers Barry and Lindsay Gaze (both were selected, though only Barry took the field). Lindsay represented Australia in basketball at the 1964 Games, and coached the Australia team at the 1972, 1976, 1980 and 1984 Olympics. Lindsay's son Andrew Gaze went on to represent Australia at five Olympic Games in basketball.
• The song that ended the closing ceremony at the 1956 Melbourne games was 'Will Ye No Come Back Again?'
• Swimmer Murray Rose won six Olympic medals and was the first man to swim the 1,500-meter freestyle in less than 18 minutes.
• James Wolffeson, who competed for Australia at the Olympics in fencing, was an accomplished cellist and went on to become head of the World Bank.
• The three Sydney 2000 Olympics' mascots were Olly the kookaburra, Syd the platypus, Millie the echidna.
• Australian Olympic sprinter Shirley Strickland was also a nuclear physicist.
• The Olympiads in which Australia won no gold medals was 1904, 1920, 1936 and 1976.
• Dawn Fraser became the first swimmer (from any country) to win gold in the same event for three consecutive Olympics (100m freestyle in 1956, 1960, 1964)
• The most appearances at the Summer Olympic Games for an Australian athlete is eight, by Andrew Hoy (equestrian) – 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996 (Opening flag bearer), 2000, 2004, 2012 and 2021 (also Hoy was selected for Moscow 1980 but Equestrian section was boycotted)
• The record for the most Australian Olympic medals in total is by Ian Thorpe (swimming): 9 Olympic medals: 5 gold (2000 x 3, 2004 x 2), 3 silver (2000 x 2, 2004 x 1), 1 bronze (2004 x 1)
• The record for the most gold medals is Ian Thorpe (swimming) - 5 gold medals: 200m, 400m Freestyle (Athens 2004) 400m, 4x100m, 4x200m Freestyle Relay (Sydney 2000)
• The record for the most medals at a single Games is held by two people: Ian Thorpe (swimming) 5 medals - 3 gold, 2 silver - Sydney 2000 and Shane Gould (swimming) 5 medals - 3 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze - Munich 1972.
• Dressage rider Mary Hanna is Australia's oldest Olympian, competing in equestrian at 66 years old at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. She is the second-oldest female Olympian ever. Of the males, equestrian rider Bill Roycroft was 61 years 128 days in Montreal in 1976.
• The oldest gold medalist is Bill Northam (yachting, 5.5m) – 59 years 26 days, in Tokyo 1964.
• In 2024 Australian Arisa Trew won the women's skateboarding park event, becoming Australia's youngest Olympic gold medallist at 14 years and 86 days. The previous youngest gold medalist was Sandra Morgan in swimming. She was 14 years 6 months when she won gold as part of the 4x100m freestyle relay in Melbourne 1956.
• The only Australian Test cricketer to also represent Australia at the Olympics was Brian Booth. He was part of the Australian field hockey team that finished fifth at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, though he did not take the field in any of Australia's matches. He also played in 29 Tests for Australia from 1961 to 1966. Brian Booth was also the uncle of women's hammer thrower Brooke Krueger who represented Australia in Athens 2004.
• Wheelchair basketballer Kevin Coombs defied the odds and became Australia's first indigenous Paralympian, competing at the Paralympics between 1960-1984.
• The first time Australian indigenous athletes competed at the Summer Olympic Games was in 1964 - Michael Ah Matt representing in Basketball, and Adrian Blair and Francis Roberts in Boxing.
• The first Australia female indigenous athlete was swimmer Samantha Riley, who competed in 1992 at Barcelona. She became the first indigenous athlete to win a medal when she finished third in the 100m breaststroke.
• As a member of the women's hockey team in Atlanta, Nova Peris became the first Aboriginal to win an Olympic gold medal.
• The bronze medals presented to athletes at the 2000 Olympic Games were made from melted down Australian one-cent and two-cent bronze coins that were withdrawn from general circulation in 1992.
• Cathy Freeman's 400m gold in Sydney was the 100th gold medal won by Australia at the Olympics.
• Cathy Freeman lit the cauldron at the start of the 2000 Games, and went on to win the 400m race. She is the only person to light the Olympic Flame and win a gold medal at the same Games.
• Representing Australia in BMX cycling in 2008 was a rider called Kamakazi, a Queenslander who changed his name from Jamie Hildebrandt by deed poll.
• Melissa Wu will be the first diver to ever represent Australia at five Olympics in Paris 2024.
• In Rio, table tennis player Melissa 'Milly' Tapper became the first Australian athlete to compete in both the Olympics and Paralympics.
• Swimming sisters Cate and Bronte Campbell became Australian swimming's first siblings to qualify for the same event, the 50m freestyle at the London Olympics in 2012. In 2016, they became the first Australian siblings to win gold in the same event - the 100m women's freestyle relay.
• The largest Winter Olympics team was 60 (Sochi), followed by PyeongChang 51, and 44 for Beijing 2022.
• Women make up 52.3% of the Australian Winter Olympic team for Beijing in 2022, topping the Sochi 2014 figure of 51.7% as the highest female representation.
• Australia’s best ever medal tally was at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games: 58 Olympic medals (16 gold, 25 silver, 17 bronze). This will be surpassed in Paris 2024.

The following Australian athletes have competed in two different sports at the summer Olympic Games:

• Edwin Flack — Athletics 1896 and Tennis 1896
• Lily Beaurepaire — Diving 1920 and Swimming 1920
• Peter Macken — Fencing 1968 Modern Pentathlon 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976
• Sydney Middleton — Rugby 1908 Rowing 1912
• Harry Morris — Diving 1928 Wrestling 1928
• Fiona Robinson/Hannan — Basketball 1996 Handball 2000. She was part of the bronze medal winning basketball team in Atlanta and played handball for Australia in Sydney.
• Neville Sayers — Modern Pentathlon 1956, 1960 Shooting 1960
• Nova Peris — Athletics 2000 & Hockey 1996
• Donna Kite — Athletics 1984 Cycling Road 1988
• Duncan Page — Modern Pentathlon 1964, 1968 Fencing 1964

Only one Australian athlete has competed in three sports at the Olympic Games:

• Reginald “Snowy” Baker — Diving 1908, Boxing 1908 and Swimming 1908

Only two athletes have competed in the Summer and Winter Olympics

• Paul Narracott — Athletics 1984 Bobsleigh 1992
• Jana Pittman  — She competed as a sprinter in track and field at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics, then in 2014 competed in bobsled at the Winter Olympics.

Related Pages

• Australian Olympic Firsts
• Youngest and Oldest Australian Competitors at the Summer Olympics
• Olympic Games Trivia
• Olympic Games Quizzes
• More Sports Trivia

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