Kieren Perkins triumphs in Atlanta in 1996.Credit: Tim Clayton.
It is a difficult assignment to narrow down more than 120 years of Olympic history and select the 20 most memorable Australian moments.
Comparing the significance of Australia’s maiden gold medal at the 1896 Athens Olympics, courtesy of Edwin Flack in the 1500m on the athletics track, with swimming queen Emma McKeon’s seven-medal haul at the Tokyo Games is an unenviable task.
To celebrate 30 days until the Paris Olympics, let the debate begin.
Firstly, some criteria. Only moments involving Australians at a Summer Olympics were considered.
More recent results were naturally given slight preference over events before the introduction of television.
Edwin Flack.
That is not to downplay the achievements of athletes who competed before 1956.
However, memorable doesn’t always equate to gold medals. There are many Olympic controversies involving Australians that are still talked about today.
Amazing athletic feats were prioritised but so too the stories surrounding competitors.
There were some outstanding Olympic moments and performances that missed the cut. There are too many to try and name.
A list like this will never be perfect but hopefully, it is nostalgic and provides a recap of moments that we’ll tell our kids and grandkids about.
As well as a few from Paris 2024, no doubt.
No.20: McKeon wins seven medals in Tokyo (2021)
Emma McKeon. Credit: James Chance
Emma McKeon arrived in Tokyo with a mask and a mission to win seven medals in the pool. Australian swimmers Shane Gould, Ian Thorpe and Alicia Coutts had managed five medals at a single Olympics but McKeon’s goal to claim two more was ambitious to say the least. Victories in the 50m and 100m freestyle events – her first individual gold medals – elevated McKeon’s status to another level. Another two relay gold medals were icing on the cake as the Wollongong product became the first female Olympian since Russian gymnast Maria Gorokhovskaya in 1952 to win seven medals at the same Games. McKeon owns 11 Olympic medals (five gold, two silver and four bronze). No Australian has more.
Kyle Chalmers deserves an honourable mention for his thrilling 100m freestyle gold medal in Rio in 2016, but McKeon’s huge haul deserves its recognition.
No.19: Sevens heaven for Aussie women (2016)
Australia’s 2016 women’s sevens team. Credit: Getty
Rugby returned to the Olympic program in 2016 for the first time since Paris 1924, albeit with seven players – instead of 15 – on the field. Australia sent a women’s side to Rio with silky skills and a steely determination to make history. After a draw against the United States in the pool stages, Australia cruised to the gold medal match against New Zealand. Then came a pre-game sledge from Kiwi coach Sean Horan. “The Australians don’t like pressure, they don’t like the physical side,” Horan said. Australian coach Tim Walsh scribbled the quote on the team’s whiteboard to motivate his side and it worked a treat as Australia secured a famous 24-17 win in a historic moment for not only the code, but women’s sport. Wallabies great Matt Burke wrote in the Herald after the match: “I think that win has done as much for Australian rugby as the World Cup wins of 1991 and 1999. I say this not as an advocate for rugby in Australia but as a father of daughters.”
No.18: Beach volleyball gold on the sand of Bondi (2000)
Kerrie Pottharst and Natalie Cook win gold in Sydney in 2000.Credit: Hamish Blair, Allsport
Before the Sydney Olympics, there was significant opposition to the erection of a temporary 10,000-seat temporary stadium on Bondi Beach. On the afternoon of September 25, that was nothing but an afterthought as Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst delivered Australia a gold medal to remember against Brazil on the sand in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. As the last ball landed out, Cook and Pottharst slumped to the sand and burst into tears, four years on from a bronze medal at Atlanta in 1996. The response from the local crowd, willing them to victory, won’t be forgotten by anyone who was there or watching on television.
No.17: Pearson powers to victory (2012)
Sally Pearson. Credit: AP
It was a race Australia had never won a medal in since it was introduced to the Olympics in 1972. The women’s 100m hurdles final at London 2012 was Sally Pearson’s race to win. Carrying the hopes of the nation, Pearson gave everything she had as she dipped over the line in a tight finish. For 31 agonising seconds, Pearson stared at the big screen without an official result. Once Pearson’s victory was confirmed, in a new Olympic record time of 12.35 seconds, the Australian screamed in delight as she dropped to her hands and knees in disbelief. She is the last Australian Olympian to win a gold medal on the track.
No.16: Armstrong and lucky lane six (1988)
Laurie Lawrence and Duncan Armstrong.Credit: Fairfax Photographic
The Aussie underdog has a special place in the heart of sports fans. Duncan Armstrong wasn’t viewed as a serious gold medal chance in the men’s 200m freestyle at the 1988 Olympics. He was ranked 46th in the world coming into Seoul. American Matt Biondi and Germany’s Michael Gross were highly favoured for victory. But the Australian had other ideas as he surged late to hit the wall first in “lucky lane six”. Armstrong’s coach, Laurie Lawrence, was overcome with joy and delivered an interview for the ages on live television with Stephen Quartermain that also featured a gentle slap. “We did it again. Lucky lane six,” Lawrence told Quartermain. “What do you think we came here for? Silver? Stuff the silver, we came for the gold.”
No.15: Flintoff-King and the greatest finish ever? (1988)
Debbie Flintoff-King (second from left). Credit: SMH
Two weeks before Debbie Flintoff-King raced in the final of the 400m hurdles at the 1988 Olympics, the track star was rocked by the death of her sister, Noeline. Days after the funeral, Flintoff-King’s parents made the trip to Seoul. Battling ill health before the race, Flintoff-King was in fifth place coming into the final 100 metres. Even at the last hurdle, the Australian looked gone for all money but somehow found something within to chase down Tatyana Ledovskaya from the USSR and win by the slimmest of margins: one hundredth of a second. As far as thrilling finishes go, they do not get better. Cathy Freeman and Sally Pearson are the only Australians to win Olympic gold on the track since.
No.14: Hackett heroics in 1500m freestyle (2004)
Grant Hackett.Credit: Getty
Grant Hackett arrived in Athens at the 2004 Olympics with a closely guarded secret: he had a partially collapsed lung. The media were told it was a bronchial infection but Hackett and his team knew it was far more serious. His coach, Denis Cotterell, later estimated that the champion long-distance swimmer was without 25 per cent of his lung capacity. A gold medallist four years earlier in Sydney, Hackett wanted more glory in the 1500m freestyle but knew his body wasn’t 100 per cent. With a shaved head and fierce determination, Hackett held off America’s Larsen Jensen by less than two seconds for a memorable gold medal. Hackett’s emotional reaction afterwards showed just how much it meant.
No.13: A winning goal with one second on the clock (2000)
Australia’s women’s water polo team in 2000. Credit: Orlando Chiodo
With one second remaining in the gold medal match of the women’s water polo at the Sydney Olympics, extra-time looked all but certain. Australia’s Yvette Higgins had other ideas. With scores locked at 3-3, Australia were awarded a free throw. What ensued was an extraordinary individual effort as Higgins hauled the ball into the top-left corner past stunned US players and their goalkeeper. A vociferous home crowd leapt to their feet and rejoiced one of the great Olympic moments, as US coach Guy Baker protested the winning shot but to no avail. There was time for a restart, with just two tenths of a second on the clock, but the gold was Australia’s. A party had well and truly started.
No.12: Titmus takes down Ledecky (2021)
Ariarne Titmus. Credit: Matthias Schrader/AP
Ariarne Titmus called upon a lifetime of hard work in the pool as she entered the final lap of the women’s 400m freestyle final at the Tokyo Olympics. The Taswegian powered over the top of American legend Katie Ledecky, arguably the greatest female swimmer in history, to clinch her maiden Olympic gold medal and do what few thought possible. Titmus was elated, while coach Dean Boxall had an out-of-body experience as he ripped his mask off and celebrated wildly in the stands. Titmus’ tactics were perfect and the victory was a highlight of the Games. She added another gold in the 200m freestyle and will be trying to replicate her feats in Paris.
No.11: Cuthbert becomes a national treasure (1956)
Betty Cuthbert in 1956.Credit: Fairfax
Betty Cuthbert was Australia’s “Golden Girl” at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, winning gold medals in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay on the track at the MCG. She was the first Australian, male or female, to win three gold medals at a single Olympics. Swimmer Murray Rose achieved the feat six days later, while seven other Australians have done the same (Shane Gould, Ian Thorpe, Jodie Henry, Petria Thomas, Stephanie Rice, Kaylee McKeown and Emma McKeon). Remarkably, Cuthbert returned eight years later at the 1964 Tokyo Games to win the 400m. No athlete in Olympic history has pulled off the 100-200-400 gold medal trifecta across their career.
No.10: Meares digs deep after horror accident (2012)
Anna Meares. Credit: Iain McGregor
In 2004, Anna Meares became the first Australian female to win Olympic gold on the velodrome. Seven months before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Meares almost became a quadriplegic following a high-speed crash in a World Cup event on the velodrome. She fractured vertebrae and returned to Australia in a wheelchair but somehow salvaged a silver medal in Beijing behind Great Britain’s Victoria Pendleton in the women’s sprint. Their rivalry only intensified ahead of London 2012 as Meares and her team began plotting “Project Know Thy Enemy”. Meares had trained to effectively come to a stand-still, on the steepest part of the track, to let Pendleton take the lead – something the queen of British cycling did not prefer. The tactics played out perfectly as Meares seized her moment and came from behind on the final lap to take gold and continue a marvellous Olympic career that also yielded a bronze medal in the keirin in Rio.
No.9: Thorpe prevails in ‘Race of the Century’ (2004)
Ian Thorpe.Credit: Getty
The men’s 200m freestyle final at Athens 2004 was billed by the media as the “race of the century”. Four years earlier, Ian Thorpe was favoured to win the event in Sydney but settled for a silver medal behind Dutch star Pieter van den Hoogenband. In a stacked field also featuring Michael Phelps and Grant Hackett, Thorpe came from behind to touch the wall first and punch the air in delight. Across a decorated career, it was arguably Thorpe’s finest individual victory. A third instalment between Thorpe and van den Hoogenband at the Beijing Olympics never came to fruition.
No.8: Gould stuns the world in Munich (1972)
Shane Gould.Credit: Fairfax
Swimmer Shane Gould was so good that she was going close to breaking unofficial world records at school meets at Turramurra High in Sydney. At age 15, Gould’s fame soared as she won five individual medals – three gold, one silver and one bronze – at the Munich 1972 Olympics. More than half a century later, she is still the only female swimmer to win five individual medals at the same Olympics. At one point, Gould held every freestyle world record from 100m to 1500m, plus the 200m individual medley. She was named Australian of the Year in 1972 and retired from the sport aged 16.
No.7: Saville disqualified with victory in sight (2000)
Sheer agony: Jane Saville.Credit: Craig Golding
Memorable, yes, but not for the right reasons. Many of us can remember where we were when Jane Saville began walking her way down towards Stadium Australia with a race walking gold medal in sight. With only one more judge to keep happy, victory was all but assured. But Italian judge Lamberto Vacchi had other ideas when he held up a red paddle to crush Saville’s dreams on live television with 120 metres remaining in the 20-kilometre race. It was the cruellest of disqualifications as Saville burst into tears. The Australian was asked by a reporter if she needed anything. “A gun to shoot myself,” Saville replied. After gathering her thoughts, Saville said she respected the judge’s call.
No.6: Lay-down Sally (2004)
Sally Robbins.Credit: Steve Christo
It was the moment rower Sally Robbins would love to have back. With 650 metres left to row in the women’s eight finals at the 2004 Athens Olympics, Robbins’ body completely shut down. Overcome with exhaustion, Robbins stopped rowing as her incredulous teammates picked up the slack. Australia finished last in the final, sparking national outrage and a media circus. Robbins’ teammates were furious and vented their displeasure accordingly. Pat McNamara, the president of Rowing Australia, said Robbins was being treated like Lindy Chamberlain. It was a memorable moment for all the wrong reasons and a reminder of the cut-throat nature of elite sport. Despite multiple requests for paid interviews, Robbins has remained largely silent on the saga, attempting to live a normal life without being recognised as that rower who was paralysed by fatigue in Athens.
No.5: Fraser wins third straight gold after horror car crash (1964)
Dawn Fraser (centre).
By 1964, Dawn Fraser was already an Australian hero after back-to-back 100m freestyle gold medals in Melbourne 1956 and Rome 1960. However, seven months before the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, swimming quickly became an afterthought for the Australian champion. After leaving a fundraiser, Fraser was the driver of a car involved in a horrendous accident. Fraser and her sister survived, but their mother was killed. Many thought Fraser, who suffered fractured vertebrae and torn ligaments in her knee, would not race at the 1964 Games. Despite warnings from doctors, Fraser swam and won gold in her favoured event. No Australian swimmer has won three gold medals in the same event at three consecutive Olympics.
No.4: Perkins does the unthinkable from lane eight (1996)
Kieren Perkins (centre) and Daniel Kowalski. Credit: Reuters
Lane eight will forever be synonymous with Kieren Perkins. The Australian great was badly out of touch leading into the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. After failing to qualify for the 200m and 400m freestyle events, Perkins snuck into the 1500m final in Atlanta by 0.23 seconds. The man who’d broken 11 world records and won the event in Barcelona four years earlier looked destined to finish behind Australian teammate Daniel Kowalski. What Perkins was able to achieve over 30 lung-busting laps in lane eight at the Georgia Tech pool was unforgettable. The Australian took an early lead and blew away his rivals to seal an unforgettable gold medal against the odds. The words of Perkins’ training partner, Olympian Hayley Lewis, epitomised the Australian public’s sentiment. “Australia should wake up every morning and kiss the ground he walks on. He is the greatest swimmer in history.”
No.3: Peter Norman takes a stand (1968)
Peter Norman (left).Credit: AP
The image of American sprinters John Carlos and Tommie Smith with fists raised above their heads, donning black gloves on the medal dais after their 200m final at the 1968 Mexico Olympics, was voted by Time magazine as the most iconic photograph ever taken. Australian Peter Norman, with a silver medal around his neck, stood next to the pair in solidarity wearing an Olympic Project for Human Rights badge. The trio’s silent protest at the treatment of African Americans was arguably the most political moment in Olympic history. In 2012, the Australian government issued an apology to Norman for the way he was treated after the moment. His silver medal time of 20.06 is still an Australian 200m record, 56 years later.
No.2: Thorpe mows down USA in epic relay finish (2000)
Ashley Callus, Chris Fydler, Michael Klim and Ian Thorpe.Credit: Getty
“My biased opinion says that we will smash them like guitars.”
American swimmer Gary Hall Jnr maintains this infamous comment in a magazine article was taken out of context. Nonetheless, it lit the fuse for a lively duel with Australia in the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay on the opening night of competition at the Sydney Olympics. Ian Thorpe, fresh off victory in the 400m freestyle, joined his teammates just in time after a swimsuit malfunction. Michael Klim gave Australia the perfect start by breaking the individual 100m freestyle world record. Chris Fydler and Ashley Callus kept Australia ahead before Thorpe dived in with Hall Jnr for an epic showdown. The Australian had a major gap to make up with 25 metres to go but hauled down the American for a stunning victory – in world record time – by just 0.19 of a second. The quartet delivered a fresh serving of humble pie for the Americans by giving an air guitar rendition out of the pool. The USA had never lost the event since it was introduced in 1964.
No.1: The race no one will ever forget (2000)
Cathy Freeman. Credit: Craig Golding
What Catherine Freeman achieved on the evening of September 25, 2000, at Stadium Australia will be talked about for decades, if not centuries. It was a moment dripping in symbolism. Freeman’s Indigenous heritage had brought the entire nation together at a time when reconciliation was on the national agenda with the whole world watching. After successfully keeping the secret that she would light the flame at the opening ceremony, Freeman put on a silver, green and gold lycra bodysuit and went to work in her beloved 400m event. As Freeman entered the final straight, 112,524 spectators lifted her to the finish line ahead of a field without her French arch-rival Marie-José Pérec. With the pressure valve released, Freeman slumped onto the track before taking part in an extended victory lap draped in the Australian and Aboriginal flags. It was memorable for all the right reasons.
Will there ever be another moment like it?
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