Key Olympic Events for Aussies

Finally… the Olympics is here! After a year of waiting, athletes all over the world get to represent their respective countries in different sports categories – all happening in Tokyo. The Olympics is a worldwide sports event that occurs every 4 years, and this year’s Olympics was supposed to happen in 2020 – but due to the pandemic, it was postponed to 2021 albeit with stricter protocols.

The Tokyo Olympics is a timely event that brings together a world recently numbed and torn apart because of COVID-19, giving the message of hope to all peoples. Tedros Adhanom, Director General of the World Health Organisation (or WHO), said in his keynote speech at the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony…

“The Olympic Games bring the nations of the world together in competition, as athletes strive to fulfil the Olympic motto of faster, higher, stronger – together… But ultimately, they are a celebration of something even more important; of something that our world needs now, more than ever: a celebration of HOPE. The celebrations may be more muted this year, but the message of hope is all the more important.”

For Aussies, however, we get to enjoy more good news! Australia has just won the bid to host the Olympics (again) for the year 2032. This time, it’s going to be in BRISBANE!

To celebrate this amazing news, we’re bringing you excerpts from some key Olympic events and highlights for Australia. Read on below!

Archery

For many years, people thought Donald MacKintosh brought Australia its first gold medal in archery during the 1900 Paris Olympics – later to be confirmed that it was in fact a shooting game rather than archery. It was in the 1972 Munich Olympics that Australia first sent its archery team.

In Sydney 2000, Simon Fairweather from South Australia won the gold medal for the individual men’s archery.

Check out our archery toys and target accessories!

Table Tennis

When table tennis was first introduced to the Olympics in Seoul 1988, Australia has since participated in that sports event. In Sydney 2000, Australian citizens Miao Miao and Shirley Zhou placed 5th out of 34 teams in women’s doubles; their performance was the best result for Australia in the table tennis category.

William Henzell matched the best ever result by an Australian during the 2012 London Olympics. He won over a number of higher ranking players as he progressed through to the quarter-finals.

Have a look at our table tennis sets, rackets, and pingpong balls!

Soccer / Football

Australia sent its first Olympic participants for football in Melbourne 1956, where they finished 5th in the overall ranking. Just recently in this year’s Tokyo Olympics, Australia’s Olyroos shocked the world by winning over Argentina, which is known to be one of the world’s toughest team to beat when it comes to soccer.

Browse through our range of soccer balls and toys!

Basketball

The Aussie Opals (Australia’s women’s basketball team) gave the country the best results for basketball in the Olympics. They won the bronze in Atlanta 1996, and 3 silver medals in Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, and Beijing 2008 respectively.

Check out our basketball toys, balls, and more!

Badminton

Australia’s first badminton representatives were Anna Lao and Rhonda Cator. They participated in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Lao was able to reach the quarter finals in the women’s singles and Cator finished with the same position in the women’s doubles.

Get yourself into badminton today!

Golf

It was in Rio 2016 when Australia sent its first athletes for golf. They were Marcus Fraser and Scott Hend for the men’s competition, and Minjee Lee and Su Oh for the women’s category. Fraser made history when he struck a ball in the Olympics, the first Australian golfer to do so. He was able to proceed all the way to the half-way mark and into the third round, ending the game in 5th place.

See our range of golf sets, balls, clubs, and more!

Swimming

Swimming is Australia’s best performing sports when it comes to the Olympics. We haven’t seen an Olympic event in which Aussie swimmers didn’t grab a bunch of gold medals.

The first Australian who won the gold in an Olympic swimming competition was Freddy Lane during the 1900 Paris Olympics. Lane got the first place in the 200 metres freestyle and obstacle race categories.

Teach your kids how to swim with our “Learn to Swim” products!

BMX Racing

BMX racing first became an Olympic sport in Beijing 2008, and Australia sent 32 male and 16 female BMXers to participate. However, its was in the 2012 London Olympics when Australia got its first Olympic medal (silver) for BMX racing in the person of Sam Willoughby.

Have a look at our selection of BMX bikes!

Volleyball and Beach Volleyball

Volleyballers, Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst, won Australia’s first ever Olympic beach volleyball medal when they grabbed the bronze in Atlanta 1996. After 4 years, the same players got the gold in front of their hometown fans during the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Check out our indoor volleyball and beach volleyball items!

Skateboarding

Renton Miller and Shane O’Neill were the ones who put Australia in the international skateboarding scene. Miller has been into professional skateboarding for nearly 30 years and is a former World Cup and National Champion. O’Neill on the other hand has been a topmost figure in the global skateboard category since 2010; he was the Skate League World Champion in 2016.

This year’s Tokyo Olympics is the first time skateboarding gets included in the Olympic sports events.

Browse through our skateboards and skating products!

Trampoline Gymnastics

The 23rd of September 2000 was a date to remember for Australian gymnasts. It was when Ji Wallace gave Australia its first medal in gymnastics, grabbing the silver in the trampoline category.

Have a look at our trampoline selection!

Let’s celebrate hope and camaraderie through the Olympics. If you see your children aspiring to be Olympic athletes and sports champions, then today is the best time to start their training for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics. Shop for sports toys and accessories at Mr Toys now!