No alarms and no surprises, please
01 October 2024
Chart of the Month - August 2024
The Red Hot Chilli Peppers grabbed the mic at the handover ceremony marking the end of the Paris Olympics. But Australia is still basking in the glow of its greatest gold medal haul ever. Australia won 18 gold surpassing its previous record of 17 from the Athens 2004 and Tokyo 2020 Olympics (see chart below). Let’s look at where those gold medals were won and whether this was truly Australia’s best-ever Olympics!
Where the gold was won https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/health-and-wellness/older-adults-do-not-benefit-from-light-drinking-research-shows-20240819-p5k3ec
Australia typically wins most of its gold medals in the pool and Paris was no different with 8 or 44% of Australia’s 18 gold medals won there (see chart below).
Mollie O’Callaghan led the way with three gold medals which was the most by any Australian at the games. Emma McKeon won a gold in the Women’s 4x100m freestyle relay adding to her one gold from Rio 2016 and four gold from Tokyo 2020 to take her past Ian Thorpe’s all-time Australian record of 5 gold medals.
Compared to the total for the previous six Olympics (Sydney 2000 to Tokyo 2020), swimming outperformed in Paris by its share of gold medals, as did cycling, canoeing, and skateboarding. Sailing, rowing, and shooting underperformed (see chart below).
Women also outperformed, winning 72% of the gold medals in Paris compared to 53% over the previous six Olympics.
The relative dominance of the Australian swimming team would please iron-ore billionaire Gina Rinehart who has poured between AUD 40 to 60 million into the sport since 2012. This includes direct financial support to individual swimmers following her fallout with Swimming Australia in 2021.
“These athletes would not have been able to accomplish what they’ve accomplished without Mrs Rinehart,” Kevin Hasemann, Swimming Queensland, CEO.
The best Australian Olympics ever?
With Australia’s collective chest puffed out, it is now time to look back and see whether this was truly Australia’s best-ever Olympic performance.
Of course, the major debating point is whether to look at gold medals or combined medals won. While the IOC (International Olympic Committee) is prohibited by its charter from publishing an official medal tally (“The Olympic Games are competitions between athletes in individual or team events and not between countries”), it uses the convention of gold first. This is also the convention used by most countries, with the USA being the notable exception.
By gold medal count, Paris 2024 was Australia’s most successful Olympics. But if you look at total medals then Paris 2024 falls to second place behind Sydney 2000 (see chart below). Sydney 2000 was helped by having an extra 169 Australian athletes competing (630 in total) compared to Paris. Host countries are guaranteed qualification for each team sport and for one male and female athlete per individual sport.
One way to take into account the number of athletes is to look at the number of gold medals won per athlete. Athens 1896 and Paris 1900 were exceptions because Australia had one and three athletes respectively and was able to win two gold medals in each of the games. This includes Frederick Lane’s gold in the men’s 200 metre obstacle course for swimming in 1900 - the only time the event has ever been staged! If we focus on Melbourne 1956 onwards, when Australia Olympic team first exceeded 100 athletes, we can see that Australia’s best Olympics was Munich 1972 (0.046 gold per Australian athlete) when 15-year-old Shane Gould won three of Australia’s eight gold medals. This is followed by Rome 1960 (0.043), Melbourne 1956 (0.041), and Paris 2024 (0.039).
The picture becomes more complicated when you consider the fact that the number of gold medals on offer has increased over time which discounts the performance of Australia at earlier Olympics. At the first modern Olympics in Athens 1896, there were only 43 gold medals on offer and in Paris there were 329. One way to take this into account is by looking at Australia’s medal tally ranking across the different Olympics. By that measure, Australia’s best Olympics was Melbourne 1956 when Australia came third. Australia finished fourth in Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, and now Paris 2024 (see chart below).
It seems whatever way you look at it, Paris 2024 is one of Australia’s best ever Olympics, if not the best!
There is no argument that Montreal 1976 was our worst Olympics in the modern era: just one silver and four bronze medals. But the soul searching that followed led to the modernisation of the Australian Olympics team which included the creation of the Australian Institute of Sport. Thus, Australia’s success since Montreal owes a big debt to our worst Olympics!
There is no argument that Montreal 1976 was our worst Olympics in the modern era: just one silver and four bronze medals. But the soul searching that followed led to the modernisation of the Australian Olympics team which included the creation of the Australian Institute of Sport. Thus, Australia’s success since Montreal owes a big debt to our worst Olympics!
Final thoughts
Who didn’t love Paris 2024? Except maybe the triathletes who had to swim in the Seine! But if any city could put on a bigger show than Paris then it will be Los Angeles in 2028. Then there is the big one: Brisbane 2032. Will Brisbane 2032 be Australia’s best-ever Olympics? Maybe in the pool and on the track, but how will Australia compete with Snoop Dogg, Tom Cruise, and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers in terms of the handover ceremony?!
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