It’s the start of an Olympic year. The Olympics only come around every four years and they are the big stage where lifelong dreams can be made or shattered in an instant.
Many favourites have been rolled, and many underdogs have triumphed in those moments that matter most.
Australia has a long and proud tradition at the Olympics. We’ve won 136 gold medals since the first modern Games in Athens in 1896, only missing out in Berlin (1936) and Montreal (1976).
The 1956 Melbourne Olympics is probably the first one in the consciousness of most living Australians. That got me thinking. What are the greatest Australian Olympic gold medals in living memory?
I’ve compiled the below list, with a ‘one gold medal per Olympics’ limit. That criteria is obviously subjective and forces you to leave some absolute champions out.
Ian Thorpe, Grant Hackett, Duncan Armstrong, Sally Pearson and Dean Lukin are examples who haven’t made my list.
An Olympic gold medal is the ultimate though, and this is just my opinion of the best Australian one at each Games since 1956.
1956 (Melbourne) – Betty Cuthbert, Athletics, 100 metres (she also won the 200 as well).
1960 (Rome) – Herb Elliott, Athletics, 1500 metres.
1964 (Tokyo) – Dawn Fraser, Swimming, 100 metres freestyle (her third consecutive Olympic gold medal).
1968 (Mexico) – Ralph Doubell, Athletics 800 metres.
1972 (Munich) – Shane Gould, Swimming, 200 metres individual medley (but you could take your pick of the 3 individual events she won at these Games, she set a world record in each).
1980 (Moscow) – Swimming, men’s 4 x 100 medley relay. Norman May’s famous ‘gold, gold, gold’ call of this race deserves a medal as well.
1984 (Los Angeles) – Jon Sieben, swimming, 200 metres butterfly. He was a 17- year old underdog who broke a world record and beat a raging German favourite.
1988 (Seoul) – Debbie Flintoff-King, Athletics, 400 metres hurdles.
1992 (Barcelona) – Rowing, Men’s Coxless Four.
1996 (Atlanta) – Kieren Perkins, Swimming, 1500 metres freestyle (the famous swim from lane 8, and his second consecutive Olympic gold medal).
2000 (Sydney) – Cathy Freeman, Athletics, 400 metres (running with the added pressure of the hopes of a nation on her shoulders).
2004 (Athens) – Hockey, Men’s (breaking through for gold, after either bronze or silver medal efforts at the previous 3 Olympics).
2008 (Beijing) – Emma Snowsill, Triathlon
2012 (London) – Anna Meares, Cycling, where she turned the tables on her long-time English arch rival Victoria Pendleton in her own backyard.
Which Australian gold medals performances do you rate and who do you tip to win gold medals for Australia in Rio this year?
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