The most gold medals Australia has ever won at Olympic Games

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The most gold medals Australia has ever won at Olympic Games image

Australia has a storied history at the summer Olympics, sending athletes to all editions of the modern-day version Games since 1896.

In those 28 appearances at the Olympics prior to Tokyo, Australia won a grand total of 147 gold medals.

Australia has hosted two Games during that time - Melbourne in 1956 and Sydney in 2000 - but its best result in terms of gold medals actually came at the 2004 Athens Games.

While it wasn't the nation's highest tally in terms of total medals, which came in Sydney, the 2004 games saw Australia claim 17 gold medals. 

That mark has now been matched by the 2020 team, with skater Keegan Palmer's gold in the men's park bringing up the 17th gold in Japan.

WHICH AUSTRALIANS HAVE WON MEDALS AT THE TOKYO OLYMPICS?

Gold medallists:

Kaylee McKeown, swimming, women's 100m backstroke

Australia, swimming, women's 4x100m freestyle relay

Ariarne Titmus, swimming, 400m freestyle

Ariarne Titmus, swimming, women's 200m freestyle

Australia, rowing, men's four

Australia, rowing, women's four

Jess Fox, canoe slalom, C1

Emma McKeon, swimming, women's 100m freestyle

Izaac Stubblety-Cook, swimming, men's 200m breaststroke

Kaylee McKeown, swimming, women's 200m backstroke

Emma McKeon, swimming, women's 50m freestyle

Australia, swimming, women's 4x100m medley relay

Logan Martin, BMX freestyle

Matt Wearn, men's laser sailing

Australia, sailing, men's 470

Australia, kayak men's double 1000m

Keegan Palmer, skateboarding, men's park

Silver medallists:

Jack McLoughlin, swimming, men's 400m freestyle

Kyle Chalmers, swimming, men's 100m freestyle

Ariarne Titmus, swimming, women's 800m freestyle

Australia, equestrian, team eventing

Australia, hockey, men's

Australia, beach volleyball, women's

Bronze medallists:

Owen Wright, surfing, men

Australia, swimming, men's 4x100m freestyle relay

Australia, swimming, men's 4x200m freestyle relay

Brendon Smith, swimming, men's 400m individual medley

Emma McKeon, swimming, women's 100m butterfly

Jessica Fox, canoe slalom, women's kayak

Rohan Dennis, cycling road, men's individual time trial

Australia, rowing, men's quadruple sculls

Australia, rowing, women's quadruple sculls

Australia, swimming, women's 4x100m freestyle relay

Cate Campbell, swimming, women's 100m freestyle

Emily Seebohm, swimming, women's 100m backstroke

Australia, swimming, mixed medley relay

Ash Barty/John Peers, tennis, mixed doubles

Andrew Hoy, equestion, individual eventing

Kareena Lee, swimming, women's marathon

Australia, track cyling, men's team pursuit

Melissa Wu, diving, women's 10m platform

Ashley Moloney, decathlon

HOW MANY GOLD MEDALS HAS AUSTRALIA WON AT EACH OLYMPICS?

Here's a full breakdown of Australia's gold medal history at the Olympic Games.

YEAR GOLD MEDALS
Athens 1896 2
Paris 1900 2
St Louis 1904 0
London 1908 1 (as part of Australasia)
Stockholm 1912 2 (as part of Australasia)
Antwerp 1920 0
Paris 1924 3
Amsterdam 1928 1
Los Angeles 1932 3
Berlin 1936 0
London 1948 2
Helsinki 1952 6
Melbourne 1956 13
Rome 1960 8
Tokyo 1964 6
Mexico City 1968 5
Munich 1972 8
Montreal 1976 0
Moscow 1980 2
Los Angeles 1984 4
Seoul 1988 3
Barcelona 1992 7
Atlanta 1996 9
Sydney 2000 16
ATHENS 2004 17
Beijing 2008 14
London 2012 8
Rio 2016 8
Tokyo 2020 17*

The best sport for Australia over the years has been swimming, taking out 60 golds and 192 total medals in all events in the pool, prior to the Tokyo games..

Athletics has produced 21 golds, while the sports of cycling, rowing and sailing are the only sports where Australia has reached double-digits in terms of gold medals.

WHICH SPORT AUSTRALIA HAS WON THE MOST GOLD MEDALS IN?

Here's a full breakdown of all Australia's gold medals by sport.

SPORT GOLD MEDALS
Swimming 69* (9 in Tokyo)
Athletics 21
Cycling 14
Rowing  13* (2 so far in Tokyo)
Sailing  13* (2 so far in Tokyo)
Equestrian 6
Shooting  5
Field Hockey 4
Canoeing 4* (1 so far in Tokyo)
Diving 3
Triathlon 1
Tennis 1
Weightlifting 1
Taekwondo 1
Archery 1
Water Polo 1
Beach Volleyball 1
Modern Pentathlon 1
Rugby Sevens 1
BMX Freestyle 1 (In Tokyo)
Skateboarding 1 (In Tokyo)

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