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Para sport at the Commonwealth Games: A brief history
Para_sportCommGames1994-2022medal records The 2026 Commonwealth Games have been scaled back by almost any measure – sports, athletes, events, venues, operating budget and spectator attendances – but one area that has seen growth, albeit modest, is the number of para...
Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games: Australian team
Glasgow26AustTeamFACTS@23Jul2026 The 23rd edition of the Commonwealth Games got underway in Glasgow earlier today. Over the next 11 days I shall be digging into my archive to uncover some of the rich and interesting history of Australia at the Games. Click on the link...
Australia’s oldest living Olympians
Corrected on May 18, 2026 as I was previously unaware of the death of Kevin Wilson (sailing 1952) in August 2024. With the passing of Munich 1972 sailor Gordon Ingate last Friday aged 100 – just the second Australian Olympian centenarian after Frank Prihoda...
Australia at the Winter Olympics: Medal records and milestones
Australian Winter Olympic records 1924-2026@25Feb26 Milano-Cortina was Australia's most successful Winter Olympics, not just in terms of medals but in many performances right across the board. For the statistically minded, I have updated my detailed analysis of...
Rink outsiders: Australia’s ice hockey team at the 1960 Winter Olympics
Photo credit: Liz Finley (daughter of the late Ken Wellman) Australia has taken part in 15 of the 16 sports/disciplines on the current Winter Olympics program. However, despite ice hockey being on the program at all 25 editions of the Games since 1924 (as well as the...
Top 10 unusual facts about the Winter Olympics
In today’s post, I count down my top 10 unusual facts about the Winter Olympics. 10. Athletes at the first Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix, France in 1924 marched in the opening ceremony in full-performance uniform, carrying their skis and hockey sticks, and pulling...
Meet Richard Walpole: Australia’s oldest living Winter Olympian
Melbourne schoolgirl Indra Brown (freestyle skiing: halfpipe), who turned 16 only three weeks ago, is the youngest competitor on the Australian team in Milano but glued to the television watching all the action on Nine is 98-year-old Dick Walpole, Australia’s oldest...
Like father, like…daughter
Darcie Morton (biathlon) will create a slice of history later today when she competes in the women’s 15km individual, joining her father Cameron Morton who represented Australia in the same sport 20 years ago in Torino. They are the first father and daughter duo to...
Our medal misses: Australian-born competitors who won medals for other countries
Thirty-seven of Australia’s 310 Winter Olympians were born outside Australia and two – moguls skier Dale Begg-Smith (born in Canada) and short track speed skater Richard Nizielski (born in England) – have won medals. But did you know three Australian-born competitors...
My top 10 unusual facts about Australians at the Winter Olympics
With two days to go to the opening ceremony of the XXV Olympic Winter Games in Milano-Cortina, here are my top 10 unusual facts about Australians at the Games. 10. Three Australians have competed at the Winter Olympics as mothers: 31-year-old mother-of-two Judy Forras...
George Finch: Australia’s first Winter Olympic gold medallist?
February 4 marks 102 years since George Finch was awarded Australia’s first Winter Olympic 🥇gold medal. Medals were awarded for the ‘sport’ of Alpinism (mountaineering) at the 1924, 1932 and 1936 Olympic Winter Games. Finch was among 13 members of a British expedition...
Which schools produced the most Olympians on Australia’s team in Milano?
Updated to include James Johnstone (The Scot's College, Sydney) who replaced Cam Bolton in the men's snowboard cross. The finalisation of the Australian team for the Milano-Cortina Games sees a team of 53 (33 women, 20 men), including 30 debutants. That brings to 310...
Open slather for Kyle and Moesha
The 37th Australian Open Water Championships titles were held in the West Australian city of Bunbury over the long weekend. This year saw the able-bodied open program expanded from five to seven events with the inaugural men’s and women’s 3km knockout.Moesha Johnson...
The history of the Australian Swimming Championships
Over the last four years, I have appeared as a guest on The Shannon Rollason Podcast with host Robby Cox and elite coach Shannon Rollason talking about aspects of competitive swimming’s 130-year history in Australia, including our great swimmers, medal records,...
My Olympic journey
It’s been 25 years since the Sydney 2000 Olympics (or should I say the Games of the XXVII Olympiad), so I want to join the many others who are sharing their Olympic memories. My Olympic journey started a year earlier when the executive producer of 7’s Olympic Unit...