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1956 Melbourne Olympics
First Olympics held in Australia -
Dawn Fraser
Dawn Fraser began her swimming career in 1956 and got many gold medals and world records -
1950-1970's Davis Cup Team
Australia's Davis Cup teams and male singles players were very successful thoughtout the 1950's till 1970. -
Australia suspended by FIFA
Australia's soccer federation was suspended by FIFA for 'poaching players from overseas.' -
AFL TV coverage
AFL attracted TV audiences and some players achieved wide-spread celebrity status. Players also started getting payed as the attendance at the games were increasing. AFL became a professional sport not just an amateur sport. -
Margaret Smith Court
Margaret was one of Australia's most successful women's tennis players, emerged onto the international scene in 1960. Over the next 15 years, she would go on to win 62 singles and doubles Grand Slam titles. -
Australia qualifies for Soccer World Cup
Australia qualified for the World Cup in West Germany and soccer became a 'serious game' in Australia -
1976 Montreal Olympics failure
The 1976 Montreal Olympics created little joy for Australia. The team failed to win a single gold medal, taking home just five medals overall and finishing in 32nd place. Compared to past results Australia was very disappointed. -
World Series Cricket
1977-1979 World Series cricket was played. It was a new form of cricket where the players got payed a lot more and Kerry Packer left a mark on Australian cricket -
The AIS created
In 1981, the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) opened in Canberra. The AIS aims to help talented athletes reach their potential. The Commonwealth Government committed millions of dollars into sporting schemes throughout the decade, in an effort to improve Australia's international performances, as well as to promote health and fitness in the wider community. -
1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games
Brisbane hosted the 1982 Commonwealth Games. 45 nations competed and Australia topped the medal count with 107 medals, 39 gold. -
1983 American's Cup win
Australia beat the USA for the first time in 132 years in the America's Cup. The win was declared an unofficial public holiday with Bob Hawke announcing on TV 'any boss who sacks anyone for not turning up today is a bum'. Corporate sponsorship was considered to have played a large role in Australia's victory, with entrepreneur Alan Bond injecting millions of dollars into Australia's America's Cup campaign. -
Cricket during 1990's
In the 1990's Australia dominated by retaining the Ashes and winning the World Cup in 1999. Some of the stars of Australia cricket were Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Ricky Ponting. -
Kieran Perkins
Kieran won Gold medals at both the 1992 and 1996 Olympics. He is considered one of the best long distance swimmers of all time -
Louise Sauvage
In the 1990's Louise Sauvage was found as one of the greatest ever disabled sportswomen. She won 3 Golds at the Barcelona Olympics and 4 Golds at Atlanta. She also won the Boston wheelchair marathon in 1997,1998 & 1999 -
Cathy Freeman's 400m win
Cathy Freeman won the 400m race at the Sydney Olympics. It was only the 2nd time an Aboriginal person has won a Gold at the Olympics. After the race she carried around both the Australian flag and Aboriginal flag. -
Sydney Olympics
In 2000 Sydney hosted the Olympic Games
