Australia’s athletes bag more Olympic medals than any Games since 1956

Hans van LeeuwenEurope correspondent

Aug 11, 2024 – 9.48am

Email LinkedIn Twitter Facebook

Subscribe to gift this article

Gift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.

Subscribe now

Already a subscriber?

Key Points

Read the latest Olympics coverage.
Keep up to date with the medal tally.
Explore the full events schedule.
Sign up for AFR Performance – our twice-weekly Olympics newsletter on LinkedIn.

Paris | Jessica Hull confidently seized the silver medal in the women’s 1500 metres, propelling the Australian athletics team to its best result since the Melbourne 1956 Games.

Hull’s run was an epochal moment for Australian athletics. The medal is the first for Australia on the track since 2012, and the first for Australia at this distance since Herb Elliott in 1960. She is the first Australian woman to win a 1500m medal.

Hans van Leeuwen covers British and European politics, economics and business from London. He has worked as a reporter, editor and policy adviser in Sydney, Canberra, Hanoi and London.