Jake Michaels, Senior Writer Aug 10, 2024, 6:32am
Close Jake Michaels is a sports writer based in Melbourne. He has been with ESPN since 2013, covering everything from AFL to F1, basketball, boxing and tennis in Australia and around the world.
PARIS — Australia has been on the podium many times at the Olympics, but one country hasn’t finished on the podium in 68 years. That is the official medal count. And it’s real, not wishful thinking as is prevalent in the United States. Recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), it ranks countries by the number of gold medals they win, with silver and bronze medals being tiebreakers. That’s how it should be.
At the 1956 Melbourne Games, Australia won 13 gold medals and finished third behind the leading Soviet Union (37) and the United States (32). This is and always has been considered the nation’s best performance at the Olympics.
Read: Who won Australia’s gold medal in Paris?
Since then, the closest Australia has come to repeating this feat were two fourth-place finishes at the 2000 Sydney Games and the 2004 Athens Games. But after Wednesday’s unprecedented gold rush, four gold medals were added to the total in a matter of minutes. Over five hours – the possibility of Australia ending the 68-year Paris drought has become very real.
Jess and Noemie Fox celebrate with their Olympic gold medal. Luke Hales/Getty Images
With only two days left in the Olympic competition, in fact only one and a half days, Australia are now firmly in the grasp of the overall bronze medal. The country’s players have won 18 golds, 16 silvers and 14 bronzes, behind only the United States (33-39-39) and China (33-26-23) .
Japan is at the forefront of countries trying to corner Australia. Japan won three gold medals in the final three hours of the 14th day, moving into fourth place with 16 gold medals, two behind Australia. But importantly, with Australia leading in terms of silver medals with eight, Japan needs to win three more gold medals, not two, to jump ahead of Australia.
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Japan still has many legitimate gold medal hopes left with 48 hours remaining. The company’s women’s table tennis team will take on China for the gold medal on Saturday afternoon, while golfer Miyu Yamashita is just two strokes off the lead heading into the final round at Le Golf National, and Mola Ai is in the women’s boulder and is a candidate for the lead final. Japan also has gold medal opportunities in breaking, wrestling and taekwondo.
After Japan, France and Great Britain are tied with 14 gold medals.
Since the first Olympics were held in Paris in 1900, the host nation is already riding a wave of domestic support for the best Olympic win. They have won 14 gold, 20 silver and 22 bronze medals, but can they get four more? Will they be able to beat the Australians to the gold over the next two days?
Like Australia, France has most of the competitions in which it was likely to win medals now finished, with swimming megastar Leon Marchand alone accounting for four of the 14 gold medals, but will increase that number. There are still some opportunities. If that happens, it will likely be through team sports, with the men competing against the United States for the basketball gold medal and the women facing Norway for the handball gold medal. Golfer Celine Boutier is also firmly in contention for the Olympic title at -4.
Australians had much to celebrate in Paris. Quinn Rooney/Getty Images
And then there’s England. The GB team could have won one or two more gold medals in athletics, but unfortunately the numbers are 14 gold, 20 silver and 23 bronze. The best chance of winning more gold medals in the final two days of competition will be in the track and field events at the Stade de France, particularly the women’s 4x400m relay and the velodrome of Ethan Hayter and Emma Finucane. .
It is difficult to imagine other countries filing a claim for arrears. South Korea and the Netherlands have the next highest number of medals, with both countries winning 13 gold medals. Germany finished in the top 10 in 12th place and Italy in 11th place.
It is also worth remembering that reaching 18 gold medals is the minimum number for these countries. There’s no reason Australia can’t add to its already record-breaking gold harvest in Paris. The Stingers women’s water polo team will take on Spain for gold on Saturday afternoon, while Jessica Hull has a real chance to beat Kenyan star Faith Kipyegon in the women’s 1500m. Mackenzie Little is also a gold medal candidate in the women’s javelin throw.
Australia is in the box seat to finish as the third best sporting nation on the planet for the second time in its rich Olympic history. However, it will be difficult to fend off Japan in the remaining two days of competition. If they can pull off this feat, it will be a feat accomplished some 16,000 kilometers from Australia’s coast, and combined with the fact that they have already won a record number of gold medals, there is no doubt that the Paris Games will be Australia’s best bet. It has to be the most successful tournament in history.
