Over 460 Australian athletes are competing for medals in 329 events at the Paris 2024 Olympics, scheduled from July 26 to August 11.
There is considerable Australian interest in 42 of the 45 sports on the Paris 2024 programme. The only sports without any Aussie presence at the ongoing Summer Games are fencing, handball and volleyball.
Road cyclist Grace Brown recorded the first entry in Australia’s Paris 2024 Olympics medal tally with a gold in the women’s time trial on July 27. It was also Australia’s first-ever gold medal in the event.
Later, the Australian women’s 4x100m freestyle relay won the gold medal with a new Olympic record time of 3:28.92.
The medals keep Australia’s proud Olympic tradition intact.
Australians have participated in every edition of the Summer Games since the modern Olympics began with Athens 1896 and have returned with at least one medal from each of them.
However, Australian and New Zealand athletes competed together under the Australasia flag at London 1908 and Stockholm 1912.
Heading into Paris 2024, Australian athletes have won 557 medals – 167 gold, 177 silver and 213 bronze – at the Olympics.
Edwin Flack won gold medals in men’s 800m and 1500m at Athens 1896, thus becoming the first Australian to win a medal at the Olympics. Meanwhile, Fanny Durack is the first Australian woman to win a medal at the Olympics after bagging gold in the women’s 100m freestyle swimming event at Stockholm 1912.
Swimming, in fact, has been the most fruitful sport for Australia at the Olympics accounting for 221 medals, including 71 golds. Athletics. which has yielded 76 podium finishes, is a distant second.
Australia will also have a strong 45-member Dolphins contingent at Paris 2024, with Olympic gold medallists like Emma McKeon, Kaylee McKeown and Ariarne Titmus highlighting the roster.
Emma McKeon is the most decorated Australian at the Olympics with 11 medals – five gold, two silver and four bronze. Seven of the 11 came at Tokyo 2020, which is also the standing record for most medals won by a single swimmer at any single Olympic edition.
Australia have won 48 medals, 18 gold, 16 silver and 14 bronze, at the Paris 2024 Olympics so far.
