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Australia has attended all Summer Olympic Games (1896-2004). Unlike Japan, Germany, Norway and the United States, it participated in the Olympic Games in 1980.
Teddy Flack won two gold medals ( 800m and 1500m ) at the 1896 Olympic Games in Athens, the capital city of Grece. Edwin Harold "Teddy" Flack was the first Australian sportspeople to win an Olympic medal.
Dawn Fraser was a great Australian swimmer. She was born on September 4, 1937 in Adelaide, Australia. This sportswoman won four Olympic titles (1956, 1960, 1964). She also won 23 National Championships: 100m (7), 200m (8), 400m (5), 100 m butterfly (2), 200m medley (1). Dawn, the swimming star and idol national, won 8 medals at the 1958 and 1962 Commonwealth Games. During her sports career, Dawn set 27 world records. She was called "The Queen of Swimming" by Pat Besford, one of the best sportswriters of the world.
From 1938 to 2007, Australia has hosted several international competitions:
The British Empire Games (1938)
The Summer Olympic Games (1956)
The Commonwealth Games (1962)
The FIFA World Youth Championship (1981)
The Commonwealth Games (1982)
The World Athletics Cup (1985)
The Pan Pacific Swimming Championship (1987)
The FINA World Championship (1994)
The IAAF World Junior Championship (1996)
The FINA World Championship (1998)
The Pan Pacific Swimming Championship (1999)
The Summer Olympic Games (2000)
The Paralympic Games (2000)
The Commonwealth Games (2006)
The FINA World Championship (2007)
Melissa Wu has Chinese ancestry. Who is Melissa?. She is one of the best youngest divers of the world. She was born on May 3, 1992 in Sydney. Under the leadership of Xiangning Chen (her coach), she won a gold medal in the 10m platform event at the FINA World Junior Championships in Kula Lumpur (Malaysia). Melissa also won a silver medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne (Australia). Before the Commonwealth Games, Melissa won three gold medals at the 1995 Australian Championship. This athlete resides in Brisbane, Australia. Currently, she is training very hard. "I get let out of school about an hour early each day to come to trining. I do one less subject that the others so I can catch up on homework and assignments.But teachers and school friends understand this demanding daily routine.They are really happye for me!",she says.
This country has participated in the Commonwealth Games 18 times: Hamilton'1930, London '1934, Sydney '1938, Auckland '1950, Vancouver '1954,Cardiff '1958, Perth'1962, Kingston'1966, Edinburgh'1970, Christchurch'1974, Edmonton'1978, Brisbane'1982, Edinburgh'1986, Auckland '1990, Victoria '1994, Kuala Lumpur '1998, Manchester '2002 and Melbourne'2006.
The Australian men's volleyball team qualified for the 2004 Olympic Games in Greece. At the Olympic Qualification Tournamente in Tokyo, Australia defeated many teams such as Japan (host country), South Korea and the People's Republic of China. For the first time, Australia beating Japan, who won three medals at the 1964, 1968 and 1972 Olympic Games. The Australian team was trained by Jon Uriarte (Argentina), who was one of the best volleyball players in the 1980s. The Olympic players were: Brett alderman, David Beard, Matthew Young, Luke Campbell, Zane Christensen, Hidde van Beest, Grant Sorensen, Travis Moran, Dan Howard, Andrew Earl, David Ferguson and Benjamin Hardy.
From 1896 to 1972, Australia won 63 Olympic gold medals.
Catherine "Cathy" Salome Freeman is an iconic figure in Australia's sports. She become the first Aborigine to win an Olympic gold medal since James Franciscus "Jim" Thorpe (United States) at the 1912 Stockholm Olympic Games. Like Dawn Frasser (Olympic champion), Sir Frank (Nobel Prize in Medicine), Shane Gould (Olympic champion) and Patrick White (Nobel Prize for Literature), she was elected Australian of the Year (1998).
Date birth:16/2/1973
Place of birth: Slade Point,Mckay,Queensland
Event (track & field): 400m
Distinctions:1st at the 2003 Australian Championship; 1st at the 2000 Grand Prix; 1st at the 2000 Golden League; 1st at the 2000 Olympic Games; 1st at the 2000 Australian Championship; 2nd at the 1999 IAAF World Indoor Championship; 1st at the 1999 Australian Championship; 1st at the 1999 World Athletics Championship; 1st at the 1998 Australian Championship;1st at the 1997 World Athletics Championship;1st at the 1997 Australian Championship; 1st at the 1996 IAAF Grand Prix ; 2nd at the 1996 Olympic Games; 4th at the 1995 World Athletics Championship; 1st at the 1995 Australian Championship; 2nd at the 1994 IAAF Grand Prix; 1st at the Commonwealth Games; 3rd at the 1992 Australian Championship.
This country has great athletes in this century: Libby Lenton (swimming/ world champion, 2007), Nathan Deakes (athletics/world champion, 2007), Chantelle Newbery (diving/ Olympic gold medalist, 2004), Anna Meares (cycling/ Olympic gold medalist, 2004), Simon Fairweather (archery/ Olympic gold medalist, 2000), Ryan Bayley (cycling/ Olympic gold medalist, 2004), Sara Carrigan (cycling/ Olympic gold medalist, 2004), Gail Miller (water polo/ Olympic gold medalist, 2000), Leisel Jones (swimming/ world champion, 2007), Scott McGlory (Olympic gold medalist, 2000). Michael Diamond (shooting/ Olympic gold medalist, 2000), Jana Rawlinson (track & field/ world champion,2007), Matt Welsh (swimming/ world champion, 2007), Philip Dutton (equestrian/ Olympic gold medalist, 2000), Stuart Tinney (equestrian/ Olympic gold medalist, 2000), Ian Thorpe (swimming/ Olympic gold medalist, 2000 and 2004), Kerry Pottharst (beach volleyball/ Olympic gold medalist, 2000),Grant Hacker (swimming/ Olympic gold medalist, 2000 and 2004), Susie O'Neill (swimming/ Olympic gold medalist, 2000), Mark Turboll (sailing/ Olympic gold medalist, 2000), Lauren Burns (taekwondo/ Olympic gold medalist, 2000), Natalie Cook (beach volleyball/ Olympic gold medalist, 2000) and Jessicah Schipper (swimming/ world champion, 2007).
The Australian men's basketball team is one of the best of the world.
Top performances:
1956 Melbourne Olympic Games-12th place (host country)
1964 Tokyo Olympic Games-9th place
1970 FIBA World Championship-12th place
1972 Munich Olympic Games-9th place
1974 FIBA World Championship-12th place
1976 Montreal Olympic Games-8th place
1978 FIBA World Championship-7th place
1980 Moscow Olympic Games-8th place
1982 FIBA World Championship-5th place
1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games-7th place
1986 FIBA World Championship-17th place
1988 Seoul Olympic Games-4th place
1990 FIBA World Championship-7th place
1992 Barcelona Olympic Games-6th place
1994 FIBA World Championship-5th place
1996 Atlanta Olympic Games-4th place
1998 FIBA World Championship-9th place
2000 Sydney Olympic Games-4th place
2004 Athens Olympic Games-9th place
2006 FIBA World Championship-13rd place
Alejandro Guevara Onofre: He is a freelance writer. Alejandro is of Italian, African and Peruvian ancestry.He has published more than seventy-five research paper in English, and more than twenty in Spanish, concerning the world issues, olympic sports, countries, and tourism. His next essay is called "The Dictator and Alicia Alonso". He is an expert on foreign affairs.Alejandro is the first author who has published a world-book encyclopedia in Latin America.He admires Frida Kahlo (Mexican painter), Jos Gamarra (former president of the Bolivian Olympic Committee ,1970- 1982), Hillary Clinton (ex-First Lady of the USA), and Jimmy Carter (former President of the USA). Alejandro said: "The person who I admire the most is Jos Gamarra . He devoted his professional and personal life to sport. Jos played an important role in the promotion of Olympism in Bolivia -it is one of the Third World`s poorest countries- and Latin America. His biography is interesting". The sportspeople he most admire is Olympic volleyball player Flo Hyman. "This African-American sportswoman is my idol..."
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