Australian Sports Timeline
Australia has a rich history in sport and has been very successful on the world stage, despite itsrelatively small size. he most popular national sport in Australia is Cricket, in which Australians are very successful at. The most popular female sport is Netball.
The major football codes are Rugby League (predominantly in New South Wales and Queensland) and Aussie Rules (popular in Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia). Rugby Union and Football (known mostly as Soccer) is also played throughout Australia. See more about Sport in Australia.
Here are some major events in the history of Australian sport.
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1858 | The first Australian Football match was between Scotch and Melbourne Grammar schools, held on August 7, 1858. |
| 1877 | The first cricket Test match was played, between Australia and England. |
| The Victorian Football Association was formed - the original clubs were Hotham (North Melbourne), Melbourne, Geelong, Carlton, Albert Park (South Melbourne), St Kilda, Essendon and East Melbourne. | |
| 1905 | the first year that the Australian Open Tennis Championship was held. |
| 1922 | the first year that a women's event was held at the Australian Open tennis. |
| 1930 | Phar Lap won the Melbourne Cup |
| 1956 | the Olympic Games were held in Melbourne. |
| 1964 | Betty Cuthbert won gold at the Tokyo Olympic Games, and Dawn Fraser won her 3rd consecutive Olympic title |
| 1968 | Peter Norman's Black Power Statement |
| 1983 | Australia II won yachting's America's Cup |
| 1993 | Shane Warne's 'ball of the century' to dismiss Mike Gatting |
| 2000 | the Olympic Games were held in Sydney. Catherine Freeman's 400m Gold Medal |
| 2002 | Steven Bradbury won gold at Salt Lake City in spectacular fashion |
| 2005 | Australia defeated Uruguay to qualify for Soccer's 2006 World Cup |
| 2005 | Basketballer Andrew Bogut became the first Australian to be selected as the No.1 overall pick in the NBA Draft. |
| 2009 | Kieren Perkins 1500m freestyle Gold medal against the odds at the 1996 Atlanta Games |
| 2011 | Cadel Evans became the first Australian to win the Tour de France. |
| 2021 | Australia finished 6th on the Tokyo Olympic medal tally, with 17 gold medals, equaling the best total from Athens 2004. |
Related Pages
- Australian sporting highlights for 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
- Timeline (all years) in the world of sport
- For future sporting events, see the Calendar of Major Sporting Events
- Sports History
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