The Athens of the South: Sport in Australian Society

Abstract

Australia’s fourth place behind the USA, China and Russia on the medal tally at theAthens Olympics is an outstanding achievement for any nation let alone one with apopulation of only 20 million. On a medal per 100,000 people basis Australia camesecond. It is, however, not a one off achievement as it followed on from fourth place inthe 2000 Sydney Olympics and continues a proud and impressive record in the summerOlympics for over a century (Gordon, 2000). Australia and Greece were hosts of the lasttwo Olympic Games and are the only two countries that have taken part in all themodern Olympics. ‘Australia’ even competed in the first modern Olympics before it wasactually an independent nation. The impressive sporting achievements of Australia at aninternational extend beyond the Olympics and across a range of sports and particularly inteam games where, for example, Australia is the only country to win two Rugby UnionWorld Cups and is the dominant nation in cricket.