Australia at the Olympics
Australia, the NOK, the Australian Olympic Committee, was founded in 1895, took part in all the Summer Games, with 1908 and 1912 Australian and New Zealand athletes competed together under the name Australasia. At the Winter Games in 1936, Australia was represented and takes some getting since 1952.
A total of 3508 participants were sent, of which 1118 women. Australian athletes won a total of 484 medals, including 475 ( 138 | 156 | 181) in summer and 9 ( 5 | 1 | 3) in the Winter Games. First medalist and Olympic champion Edwin Flack simultaneously, won the race over 1500 meters on April 7, 1896. The first medalist, at the same time Olympic gold medalist, was the swimmer Clare Dennis, who was 1932 200m breaststroke successful.
The first medal in the Winter Games were in 1994, when the short track relay team won the bronze medal. Steven Bradbury, a member of the Bronze Season, made in 2002 for the first Australian gold medal in the Winter Games, when he sensationally won the race over 1000 meters. In these games, also attended the freestyle skier Alisa Camplin with their success in jumping for the first Olympic victory of a woman in the Winter Games.
While Bradbury and Camplin, each with a gold and a bronze medal are the most successful Australian athletes in men and women in the Winter Games, the swimmer Ian Thorpe is with five gold, three silver and one bronze medal of the most successful Australian athletes. For women, the number of Olympic medals Betty Cuthbert ( track and field ) and Dawn Fraser ( swimming), the most successful sportsmen. From the number of medals however, they are surpassed by the swimmer Leisel Jones, a total of nine medals, three gold, five silver and one bronze medal, won.
At the first Olympic Winter Games in 1924 in Chamonix George Ingle Finch was honored as a member of the British Mount Everest Expedition in 1922 with the Prix d' olympique alpinisme.
The youngest participant in the Olympic history of Australia was 1960, the rower Ian Johnston, who went to the start at the age of 13 years in two with coxswain. Oldest Australian athlete in 1976 was the rider William Roycroft, who with his horse version won bronze at the age of 61 years in the Team Classification of versatility cavalry.
Australia was twice host of Summer Olympics. 1956 the games were held in Melbourne, where the equestrian sports was discharged due to strict quarantine requirements for horses in June in Stockholm. 2000 was the venue for Sydney.