Australia has sent athletes to every Summer Olympic Games, as well as every Winter Olympic Games except 1924–32 and 1948. In 1908 and 1912, Australia competed with New Zealand under the name Australasia.
History
Beginnings (1894–1904) Australia's inclusion in the Olympic Games began when New Zealander Leonard Cuff, an athletics administrator, organised with both Baron Pierre de Coubertin and head of the English Amateur Athletics Federation Charles Herbert, for Australasia to be represented at the first International Olympic Committee meetings in 1894. While it was initially thought that no Australian (or New Zealand) athlete would be able to compete at the 1896 Summer Olympics, Edwin Flack, an Australian accountant and amateur athlete working in London, was able to obtain leave from work and travelled to Athens, where he won gold in the 800 and 1500 metres, as well as a bronze in the men's doubles tennis, while also participated in the marathon and led the race until withdrawing due to exhaustion. With the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) not yet founded, Flack was registered to compete by the London Athletic Club, however competed in his local Melbourne running club uniform. Flack would go onto become a member of the Australian Olympic Committee.
The next Olympic Games in 1900, would have three athletes represent Australia in Paris, with two of these athletes winning medals. Frederick Lane would win Australia's first medals in swimming—gold in the 200m freestyle, and bronze in the 200m obstacle race. While Stan Rowley won three bronze medals in the athletics, additionally helping the British team win gold in the 5000m team race. This would be the final Olympics that Australia would compete under the British flag, with the country's foundation occurring six months after the Olympics.
The Australasian team (1908–1912)
Australia and New Zealand were represented by Australasia, at the 1908 and 1912 games due to the two countries sharing an Olympic committee. The 1908 Summer Olympics would see the debut of future-chairman of the Melbourne Olympic Games Organising Committee Frank Beaurepaire, who won a silver and a bronze in swimming. The only gold medal won by the Australasian team at these Olympics was by the Australian national rugby union team (the 'Wallabies') who were the only other team to compete against the British, winning 32–3.
The next Summer Olympics in 1912, saw 22 athletes compete for the team with all their medals won in the swimming. The only two female athletes sent to compete were Fanny Durack and Mina Wylie in the swimming, who became the first females to win medals in swimming at an Olympic Games, achieving gold and silver respectively in the 100m freestyle. While the other gold medal won by the Australasian team was the men's freestyle relay, featuring New Zealander Malcolm Champion alongside Australian's Leslie Boardman, Harold Hardwick and Cecil Healy. Both Australia and New Zealand were due to compete as Australasia again in 1916, only for those Olympics to be cancelled due to World War I.
Despite the successes the joint team had, both countries had multiple disagreements throughout its tenure competing as one, with New Zealand taking steps to separate from the Australasian team in 1911. Both countries would be forced to form a joint Olympic committee in 1914 under an IOC rule to standardise athlete selection for all competing nations, only for New Zealand representatives to leave the meeting before a vote for the presidency was made. When World War I broke out, these discussions for a split were put on hold until its conclusion in 1918, with Australian representative Richard Coombes meeting the IOC in November that year to allow both nations to compete separately, which was granted by the IOC.
Split from New Zealand and founding the Australian Olympic Council (1920–1936) The Australian Olympic Council was officially established on April 29, 1920, after the IOC ruling allowing two separate teams for Australia and New Zealand, thus meaning that the Summer Olympics to be held in Antwerp that same year would be Australia's first Olympic competition as their own country. The independent Australian team would win two silvers and one bronze; including its first medal in the race walking, a silver won by George Parker. Thirteen athletes would be sent by the newly installed council, with only one female athlete in the team. In 1923, the Australian Olympic Council changed its name to the Australian Olympic Federation—known as the AOF—as it prepared to send a new team to the next Olympics held in Paris. Only sending athletes to compete in swimming, diving and athletics, these Summer Olympics saw three gold medals won, including swimmer Boy Charlton in the men's 1500m, diver Dick Eve, and Nick Winter in the men's triple jump. Frank Beaurepaire would become the first Australian to medal in three different Olympic Games, with his bronze medal in the 1500m freestyle.
Nineteen athletes were sent by the AOF to Amsterdam in 1928, winning four medals total, including a gold medal by rower Bobby Pearce, two silver medals won by Charlton in the swimming event, and cyclist Dunc Gray achieving bronze. Four years later, a team of twelve athletes were sent to Los Angeles for the 1932 Summer Olympics, with the Australian team achieving three gold medals, all in different sports–Gray in cycling, Pearce in rowing and Clare Dennis in swimming. The majority of the team sent were swimmers, with representatives also participating in athletics and wrestling.
While Australia has focused largely on the Summer Olympics, Australia sent its first representative to the Winter Olympics in 1936, with Ken Kennedy named the first Australian Winter Olympian, although he attended the games on his own with no members or staff from the AOF travelling to accompany him. Kennedy competed in the Speed skating in all four events, with a best finish of 29th in the 500 metres. In the final Olympics before the outbreak of World War II, Australia had its worst Summer Olympic performance in history in 1936, winning only one bronze medal, Jack Metcalfe in the men's triple jump.
Winning the bid and hosting the Olympics (1946–1956) When World War II came to an end in 1946, the Victorian Olympic Council began discussions of bidding to host the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne; with the AOF supporting the bid and notified the IOC of its interest in July the same year. The AOF would travel to London for the 1948 Summer Olympics to observe how the Olympics were run, as well as meet with members of the IOC to sway their minds to vote for Melbourne when the ballot commenced. While discussions with the IOC were ongoing, the AOF sent 77 athletes, which made it the largest Australian team sent to an Olympics at the time. Australia won two gold medals, John Winter in the men's high jump and Mervyn Wood in rowing. The team would win a record-breaking 13 medals overall, which included the only Australian Olympic medals won in wrestling, with athletics, swimming and rowing providing the others.
April 29, 1949, the ballot for the 1956 Summer Olympics commenced, with Melbourne and Buenos Aires named the final two bids in contention, with Melbourne victorious by one vote, making it the first Olympic Games in history to be held in a Southern Hemisphere country.
Four years before Melbourne's turn hosting the Olympics, the Australian team competed in Helsinki, winning six gold medals, two silver and three bronze. The Australian women dominated on the short-distance track events, with Marjorie Jackson-Nelson winning both the 100m and 200m gold medals, while Shirley Strickland was victorious in the 80m hurdles, while also winning a bronze medal to Jackson-Nelson in the 100m. Two gold medals were won in cycling, courtesy of Russell Mockridge and Lionel Cox. Australia's only gold medal in the swimming events came in the men's 200m breaststroke, won by John Davies. Australia also returned to the Winter Olympics in the same year in Oslo, sending a team of nine athletes who competed in alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, figure skating and speed skating.
The 1956 Summer Olympics would begin in Melbourne with a team of 325 athletes, finishing third on the medal table–the best in Australian Olympic history–with 13 gold, 8 silver and 14 bronze medals. Olympic champion in rowing in 1948, Mervyn Wood, was chosen to lead the Australian delegation and carry the flag during the Opening Ceremony, while future Olympic medallist Ron Clarke lit the Olympic cauldron at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. At the second successive Summer Olympics, Australia's female sprinters in the athletics dominated their events, with Betty Cuthbert winning individual gold medals in the 100m and 200m, Shirley Strickland defending her Olympic title in the 80m hurdles, as well as the women's relay featuring Cuthbert and Strickland winning gold in a world record time. The swimming team would have an incredibly successful Olympics, finishing first in the medal tally, with Murray Rose winning three gold medals, Dawn Fraser winning two gold and one silver, and Lorraine Crapp winning two gold, while David Theile and Jon Henricks also won individual gold medals. Due to it being a home Olympic Games, Australia was able to debut in multiple team sports, including basketball, which would see Australia become a frequent medallist in future Olympics.
Continued success post-Melbourne Olympics (1960–1972) After the Australian team's success at a home Olympics, they continued to maintain the momentum of success into the next decade. The first Summer Olympics after Melbourne were held in Rome, with three members of the Australian swimming team defending their gold medals in 1960.
In a meeting after the Olympics in Rome, the AOF approved allowing coaches and doctors to be part of the staff for the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Controversy over the size of the Australian team being 'too large,' led to the AOF shrinking the size of the team to 135 competitive athletes for the 1968 Summer Olympics, with the IOC supporting the AOF in the decision after a complaint from the Australian Swimming Union for not allowing their men's water polo team to enter. The team would win five gold, seven silver and five bronze medals; with swimmer Michael Wenden winning two gold, one silver and one bronze; with other medals won in swimming, as well as equestrian, hockey, rowing and athletics. The most famous of these medals being Peter Norman's silver in the men's 200m, standing on the podium alongside Tommie Smith and John Carlos when they performed the Black Power salute, with Norman wearing a human-rights badge in solidarity. The treatment of Norman in the aftermath of the Black Power salute was later criticised, which included rumours of him being excluded of the 1972 Summer Olympic athletic team despite achieving the qualifying time and was given what was described as an "unofficial sanction" conducted the AOF. The existence of a sanction was denied by the AOF at the time, as well as the Australian Olympic Committee as recently as 2012. An apology would be made to Norman in Australian parliament in 2012 for the conduct of Australian Olympic officials after the event and the Australian Olympic Committee would later grant Norman the Order of Merit posthumously in 2018.
The Australian team's performance at the 1972 Summer Olympics was bolstered by the performance of swimmer Shane Gould, who had won five of the seventeen medals won, achieving three gold, one silver and one bronze. Australia's other five gold medals in Munich also came from the swimming squad—who won three more gold—and the sailing team. These Olympics would also witness the most successful Olympics for sprinter Raelene Boyle would win two silver medals in the women's 100m and 200m, these medals being the only medals won by Australia in the athletics event.