As the Tokyo Olympics come to an end, it’s time to look back at the top ten Australian moments after an incredibly successful Games for our athletes in green and gold.
Australia finishes its campaign in Tokyo with 17 gold medals, the equal most of any Olympic Games along with Athens 2004.
After disappointing returns in London and Rio, it’s certainly a welcome change as we have struggled in recent Olympic Games.
It was also one of the most-watched Games with so many Australians in lockdown with nothing to do but cheer our Aussies on.
And didn’t we have some performances to be proud of? A new generation of athletes broke through to lead the way while some of our most popular athletes finally took home a medal.
We combed through all the moments, and trust us, we watched them all, to put together the top ten Australian moments from the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Honourable Mentions
It’s a credit to how well Australia performed at the Games that so many moments failed to make the top ten.
All of these could have easily snuck their way into the list but just missed out.
Artacho del Solar and Clancy claim Beach Volleyball silver
Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy were the fifth-rated team going into the Olympics but their campaign surpassed all expectations.
They beat the number one team in the world on their way to the final where they narrowly lost to the American pair of April Ross and Alix Klineman.
It was an incredible run that should set them up for more success in the years to come.
‘We’ve got one’ in Rohan Browning
When Rohan Browning took out his heat in the Men’s 100m, the entire country was left in shock. Here is this incredible athlete who managed to produce the fastest time ever by an Australian at the Olympics.
Most of Australia was left speechless, except of course the incomparable Bruce McAvaney who always has the right thing to say.
While he wasn’t able to get through the semifinals, in just over ten seconds Browning made his mark on the world of athletics.
Double gold for Australia’s rowers
In the space of an hour, Australia’s rowers won two gold medals on July 28.
Australia’s Men’s and Women’s Four both came home strong to take out the win in a moment that could hold real significance for the future of Australian rowing.
Andrew Hoy’s individual medal at 8th Olympics
The fact that Andrew Hoy was competing at his eighth Olympic Games was an achievement in itself.
For the 66-year-old to come away from it with an individual bronze medal and a team silver? Remarkable and inspiring.
Sailors lead from the front
Matt Wearn started the Aussie sailing gold rush when he took out the Men’s Laser (with one race to spare).
Then Mat Belcher and Will Ryan followed his lead by taking out the Men’s 470, also with a race to spare.
Nothing more Aussie than getting the job done quickly and being able to enjoy the moment in the final medal race.
Owen Wright’s comeback to Olympic bronze
It has been well-documented the journey that Owen Wright went through to get back to surfing. A traumatic brain injury left Wright having to learn how to walk again.
To come back and win an Olympic bronze medal at the first time Surfing is being held at the Olympics? An inspirational moment that won’t be forgotten anytime soon.
Australia’s footballers take on the world
When the Olyroos secured a 2-0 win over Argentina in the opening days of competition, it set the scene for the fortnight to come.
While they were unable to get out of their group, it was a moment that showed just how quickly the nation can get behind our Olympic athletes.
For our Matildas, while they didn’t come away with a medal it was a tournament that they can certainly be proud of.
The incredible quarterfinal win over Great Britain will go down as one of the greatest games of Olympic football, ever.
Patrick Tiernan’s display of determination
To start the Athletics calendar for Australia, Patrick Tiernan dragged himself across the line in the Men’s 10,000m final.
It was a moment of pure spirit. An Aussie athlete who gave his all and was out on his feet. But he was determined to finish and eventually crossed the line.
He had to be taken from the track in a wheelchair but the legacy he created in that moment is one that won’t be forgotten. And thankfully, he had no lasting injuries.
Kaylee McKeown and Emily Seebohm share the podium
There was a special moment towards the end of the swimming programme in the 200m backstroke when Kaylee McKeown took home her second individual gold medal of the Games.
Finishing in third was Emily Seebohm, an Aussie swimming legend at her fourth Olympics.
What followed at the medal ceremony was a special moment where Seebohm presented McKeown with her medal and the pair stood together on top of the podium.
A moment that typified the Australian team’s closeness these Games and signified a changing of the guard to the new generation of Aussie athletes.
10. McDermott and Barber take home medals from the field
In the final few days of competition, many thought that Australia’s medal chances may be over. After a week of dominance in the pool, is that where our success would end?
But for those who had been keeping a close eye on Australian Athletics, there were still plenty of strong medal hopes.
And two of those, in particular, were high jumper Nicola McDermott and javelin thrower Kelsey-Lee Barber.
Barber was the first to compete, in her final she left everything out there to produce a season’s best throw of 64.56m to claim a bronze medal. She missed out on silver by five centimetres.
The 2019 World Champion had been through a lot to even get to the Games so to see her come away with a medal was truly special.
For the incredibly focused Nicola McDermott, the Women’s High Jump final was the perfect time to announce herself to Australia and the world.
The Australian Record holder with a 2.01m jump earlier this season, McDermott was enjoying every moment of competing on the world’s biggest stage with journal in hand.
She then produced a personal best performance of 2.02m to better her Australian Record and keep her gold medal hopes alive.
While she came away with the silver medal, she won plenty of admirers for her determination and spirit in the high jump final.
9. Harry Garside wins historic boxing medal for Australia
When Harry Garside defeated Kazakhstan’s Zakir Safiullin in the Men’s Lightweight quarterfinal, he did something that no Australian boxer had done in 33 years. Win a boxing medal at the Olympics.
Garside is quite an incredible athlete. He pushes himself constantly. He finds ways to get outside his comfort zone because he knows that doesn’t only make him a better boxer, it makes him a better person.
After winning a gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, there were high hopes around Garside’s Olympic campaign.
Although he fell to Cuba’s Andy Cruz in the semifinals, his performance surpassed expectations despite not coming home with the gold.
It was a campaign to be incredibly proud of for an athlete who is set to inspire lots of young athletes around the country.
This is a boxer who wants to break stereotypes. He’s happy to shrug off the hypermasculinity often associated with boxing by showing off his nails painted in the ring.
His bronze medal was incredible. But his impact out of the ring is set to be just as large.
8. Melissa Wu finally claims an individual Olympic medal
Sixth in Beijing. Fourth in London. Fifth in Rio. It seemed like Melissa Wu could go throughout her career without an individual Olympic medal.
The four-time Olympian will go down as one of Australia’s greatest ever divers but finally completed her legacy in Tokyo when she won bronze in the Women’s 10m platform.
It was a moment that flew slightly under the radar with all the other incredible medal celebrations, but it’s an achievement that deserves celebration with all the bells and whistles.
Here is an athlete who burst onto the world stage as a 13-year-old, has had to deal with injuries and personal tragedies and has still been able to compete at the elite level of international competition.
The emotion on her face once she realised she had won a medal was incredibly special. Her comments made it even more poignant when she revealed she had previously considered quitting diving after her sister passed away.
“The first time (I thought about quitting) for me was when my sister passed away in 2014,” Wu said.
“That was a huge challenge for me to overcome and it’s something that is continually very challenging for me and my family.
“Diving saved me a bit and gave me something to re-focus on and keep going after that.”
7. New events capture Australia’s golden imagination
There was plenty of scepticism when it was announced that new events like Skateboarding and BMX Freestyle were coming into the Olympics in Tokyo.
With breakdancing not far around the corner in Paris 2024, many thought it was a sign that the Olympics were moving away from what made them special. But it turned out to be the exact opposite.
Across the skateboarding competition, we saw this incredible camaraderie between the competitors. No matter who was in the lead, they were all genuinely having an incredible time and wanted each other to perform at their best.
None more so than Aussie Keegan Palmer who took out the gold medal in the Men’s Park final. The shock on his face after his first ride said it all.
Even before that, fellow Aussie Logan Martin claimed the inaugural gold medal in the Men’s BMX Freestyle with an incredible run.
It was a performance that captured Australia’s attention and gave Martin his place on the Olympic stage after a long career competing around the world.
And what about that trick on the second run, even though he knew he had the gold medal wrapped up? Incredible!
We’re all in for these new sports at the Olympics.
6. Emma McKeon makes Olympic history
‘McKeon at six?’ I hear you say? It’s a historic achievement and one that may never be beaten by an Australian and it speaks to the moments that finished above it.
The 27-year-old claimed seven medals (four gold, three bronze) in Tokyo to take her total Olympic tally to 11. The most of any Australian, ever.
Two well-deserved individual gold medals in the 50m and 100m freestyle showed just how dominant the Wollongong local has become in the pool.
Her seven medals in Tokyo is also the joint-most by a female athlete along with Soviet gymnast Maria Gorokhovskaya back in 1952.
The moments that summed up McKeon’s Olympics were her incredible dedication to the Australian team.
Backing up after heats to swim in relays. Rushing off from medal presentations to race again. Spending 30 seconds in a warmdown pool after a race to be ready for a relay final.
It was a remarkable week for McKeon who conducted herself with incredible poise.
There’s every chance that she remains Australia’s most successful Olympian for decades to come. Could she add to her tally in Paris, time will tell.
5. Ash Moloney and Cedric Dubler’s shared decathlon triumph
Australia had never won a medal in the Men’s decathlon before Ash Moloney won bronze in Tokyo.
It was a determined effort from the 21-year-old who kept setting personal bests and had to set an Australian record to lock up third place.
But the moment that sticks in everyone’s mind was the effort of his Australian teammate Cedric Dubler in the 1500m.
Moloney went into the race, the last event of the decathlon, in third place with his lead slowly dwindling.
With American Garrett Scantling and Canada’s Pierce LePage hunting him down, he needed to finish within seven seconds of Scantling to ensure the medal.
Halfway through the race, it looked like Scantling was going to steal the medal from the Aussie’s grasp.
However, Dubler ran alongside Moloney and started yelling at him and motivating him to give it his all. The experienced Dubler was keeping track of what Moloney needed to do and he was well behind the pace.
It inspired Moloney to take it up a few gears and power home. As he crossed the finish line, in the background you could see Dubler pumping his fist in the air, knowing his teammate had secured a medal.
An incredibly special moment.
4. Patty Mills and the Boomers finally get their medal
After losing to Spain by a point in a dramatic bronze medal match in Rio, it almost seemed destined that the Boomers would never claim an Olympic medal.
This golden generation of basketballers had come close on four occasions only to finish 4th each time.
In Tokyo, the Boomers breezed through the group stages and comfortably accounted for Argentina in the quarterfinals.
It set up a date with destiny. The USA in the semifinals. Could this be the moment the Aussies assured themselves of a medal.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be as Kevin Durant led his troops to a dominant win over the Aussies after we got close. It meant our hopes were left to the bronze medal match again.
Standing in our way this time was the prodigious Luka Doncic who had led Slovenia to the semifinals in their Olympic debut.
Australia wouldn’t be denied their medal this time though. An incredible 42-points from the inspirational Patty Mills delivered the Boomers bronze. Their first Olympic medal.
It was a special moment for a team that all of Australia has been behind for years. It was a long time coming, but boy, was it worth the wait!
Let’s let the man himself sum up exactly how special a moment it was for Australian basketball.
3. Australia’s new favourite Bol inspires the nation
Peter Bol. The 27-year-old 800m runner who inspired a nation.
When Bol broke the Australian Record in his heat to book his place in the semifinal he caught our attention.
Then he went on to win his semifinal in a new Australian record and the whole nation was on it’s feet.
Here was this incredible Australia dominating on the world stage.
Then closer to home the story of Bol captured our imagination.
Footage of his family celebrating his semifinal triumph went viral purely because of the joy in that room. It’s surprising the roof was still on after the noise they made.
Bol went on to finish 4th in the final an incredible achievement for the Sudanese-born runner who made absolutely everyone proud.
“I didn’t know if I was going to win, but I knew one thing for certain,” Bol said after the final.
“That the whole of Australia was watching – and that carried me on.”
2. Ariarne Titmus takes the 400m crown over Katie Ledecky
As Ariarne Titmus powered through the final fifty metres of the 400m freestyle final, Australia held its breath.
Here was this incredible young swimmer with the hopes of a nation on her shoulders, about to defeat arguably the greatest female swimmer of all time.
It took a new Australian Record of 3:56.69 for Titmus to take the crown but it was the start of what was to come for Australia in the pool.
While her celebrations might have been subdued, in the stands coach Dean Boxhall went nuts with his ‘Ultimate Warrior’-inspired pelvic thrust.
Behind the gold medal and the viral celebration was over four years of hard work and dedication.
Titmus followed it up by defeating Ledecky in the 200m, however, the American did come away with the 800m and 1500m titles.
But to see the 20-year-old Aussie rise to the occasion on the biggest stage of all was a moment I don’t think any Australian watching will ever forget.
1. Jessica Fox finally gets her gold
When Jessica Fox crossed the line in the Women’s C1 final in first place, it was the culmination of over a decade of hard work.
Here was an athlete, one of the most popular in Australia right now, who had come so agonisingly close to glory on so many occasions.
At London 2012, she finished with a silver medal and just 0.61 seconds off first place.
In Rio in 2016, she finished with a bronze medal after a two second penalty cost her second place.
Then in the Women’s K1 at Tokyo, she again finished in third place. Two penalties added four seconds to her time and relegated her from the top of the podium to two steps down.
It was a heartbreaking moment felt by all of Australia who were on the edge of their seats willing Fox across the line.
But Tokyo would be special not just for Fox but for women’s paddle sports. It’s the first time we would see a Women’s C1 (canoe) event in the Canoe Slalom at the Olympic Games.
Fox made it clear early how special it would be for her to compete in the event and hopefully take home a medal.
“It’s the first time that the women’s canoe event will be on the Olympic programme, which is huge for our sport to finally have the gender equality and equal number of men and women,” Fox said.
“It’s an amazing opportunity to be able to do both events. We fought really hard to get to this point in my sport as women, so I am really proud to be the representative of Australia in the first women’s C1 Olympic event.
“It’s a big honour for all the women who fought for us to be in this position.
“Being able to compete in the women’s C1 makes these Olympics definitely more special. To be on that podium, to be one of the first, would be amazing.”
Fox went into the semifinals of the C1 as the fifth-fastest racer. A fantastic semifinal had her as the fastest for the final and meant she would race last, again.
With Great Britain’s Mallory Franklin sitting in first with a time of 108.68, Fox knew exactly what was needed to win.
With a faultless final run of 105.04, Fox secured her maiden Olympic gold medal. A moment celebrated by the entire nation.
Immediately she was embraced by her mother and sister who were at the course, Fox was overcome by emotion.
Fans were more concerned by the commentary at home where father Richard managed to contain his excitement in calling her run.
But you could hear how much the occasion meant to him. His daughter was finally an Olympic champion.
An incredible moment for Australia and our number one Aussie moment for the Tokyo Olympic Games.
