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Commonwealth Games Trivia - Australia
- Australia has hosted the Commonwealth Games four times: in Sydney 1938, Perth
1962, Brisbane 1982 and Melbourne 2006. (and will again in 2026)
- Australia officially became a member of the Commonwealth of Nations in 1931 under the Statute of Westminster having become
independent of the UK in 1901.
- Australia is one of only six nations have attended every Commonwealth Games (The others are Canada, England, New Zealand, Scotland
and Wales).
- The first Australian Team in 1930 in Hamilton,
Canada had 11 in the team - 1994 Team had 332,1998 Team had
439 and the 2002 Team had a record 515.
- The first Australian team in 1930 won 8 medals in comparison to England with 61. The 2002 Team won 207 medals ahead of England second with 165.
- Since World War II, at the Commonwealth Games, Australian athletes have won 80 medals in Auckland in 1950, 105 medals in Perth in 1962, 107 medals in Brisbane in 1982, 120 medals in Edinburgh in 1986, 162 medals in Auckland in 1990, 187 medals in Victoria in 1994, 198 medals in KL in 1998 and 207 in Manchester in 2002.
- The 1938 Team in Sydney was outfitted by a Sydney Department store, Farmers, with a jumper, a tie, a pair of shorts, and a singlet - the 1998 team had a Blazer, two shirts/blouses, trousers/skirt, shoes, belt, tie/scarf, suitcase, sports bag, tracksuit, competition gear, training gear, village gear.
- 1930 Team left Sydney on 26 June on R.M.S. "Aorangi"
and arrived 23 July in Hamilton - 1994 Team left Sydney by chartered
Qantas Jumbo 747 on 11 August and arrived in Canada on 10 August.
In 1998 Team acclimatized in Cairns, Perth, Darwin, and Singapore,
and the flight from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur took 8 hours.
- Australia’s youngest gold medal winner was swimmer Jenny Turrell, who was just 13 years, 8 months old when she competed at the 1974 Games in Christchurch in the 400m freestyle.
- Lawn bowler Dorothy Roche was 61 when she won gold at the 1990 Games in Auckland, making her Australia’s oldest Commonwealth Games gold medal winner ever. This record was beaten by 68-year-old Ken Hanson who won gold in para-bowls in 2018.
- Australia's most successful Games was at the Manchester Games
in 2002, when the largest ever Australian Team (371 competitors)
won a record 207 medals - 82 gold, 62 silver and 63 bronze.
The largest Gold Medal Tally was 87 Gold won by the 1994 Commonwealth
Games Team.
- Australia is the undisputed sports champion of the Commonwealth.
Following the 2002 Games, in the overall medal count, it is
Australia with 1683 medals, England second with 1582, and Canada
third with 1228. When it comes to gold medals, Australia has
collected 646, England 542 and Canada 387 (figures prior to
2006)
- In every Commonwealth Games since 1970 Australia has won the
Men's Cycling Sprint (and has won 12 out of the 15 times the
event has been contested). Gary Neiwand won the race in three
successive Games - 1986, 1990 & 1994.
- Australia sent 600 athletes and officials to the 2010 Games in New Delhi - its largest ever contingent in the history of the Games (up until then).
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