Team Trivia

2008 AUSTRALIAN OLYMPIC TEAM

• The 2008 Australian Olympic Team aims to finish in the top five on the overall medal tally. (Australia finished fourth in Sydney and fourth in Athens on the overall medal tally.)

• 435 athletes make up the 2008 Australian Olympic Team.
 For a full list of the team, click here>>>

(Athens 482, Atlanta 424, Barcelona 290 and the largest team ever was the Home Games in Sydney with 632 athletes).

• The 2008 Australian Olympic Team includes 318 officials.

• The 2008 Australian Olympic Team will be supported by a Medical Team comprised of 75 expert personnel.

• Australia has qualified in 26 of the 28 sports on the Olympic program. Australia has not qualified in baseball, men’s and women’s handball, women’s football and men’s and women’s indoor volleyball. 

For a snapshot of exciting things to look out for from the team, click here>>>

PARTICIPATION HISTORY

6th Olympic Games - 1 Athlete
James Tomkins (Rowing)

5th Olympic Games - 5 Athletes
Michael Diamond (Shooting), Russell Mark (Shooting), Shane Kelly (Cycling - Track), Stuart O'Grady (Cycling - Road), Clint Robinson (Canoe/Kayak - Flatwater)

4th Olympic Games - 9 Athletes
Natalie Cook (Beach Volleyball), Anthony Edwards (Rowing), Duncan Free (Rowing), Tanya Harding (Softball), Bradley McGee (Cycling - Track), Melanie Roche (Softball), Jane Saville (Athletics), Rennae Stubbs (Tennis), Natalie Ward (Softball)

3rd Olympic Games - 52 Athletes

2nd Olympic Games - 98 Athletes

Debutants - 269 Athletes

NB: reflects Games in which athletes have competed for Australia

OLYMPIC REPRESENTATION FOR OTHER COUNTRIES

Lalita Yauhleuskaya - shooting for Russia Belarus (1996 Atlanta and Sydney 2000 - bronze)

Maria Pekli - judo for Hungary (1992 Barcelona and 1996 Atlanta)

Semir Pepic - judo for Slovak Republic (1996 Atlanta)

Myriam Glez - synchronised swimming for France (2000 Sydney)

Erika Leal-Ramirez - synchronised swimming for Mexico (1996 Atlanta and Sydney 2000)

Dina Aspandiyarova - shooting for Kazakhstan (2000 Sydney)

OLDEST AND YOUNGEST ATHLETES

Laurie Lever (equestrian) is the oldest member of the team, at 60 years of age. Laurie makes his Olympic debut  at the 2008 Games. He is not however the oldest Australian debutant in games history, as Harold Brooke was 61 when he made his debut at the 1960 Olympics.

Emily Seebohm (swimming) is the youngest member of the team at 16 years of age (5/6/1992). Cate Campbell (swimming) (20/5/1992) and Melissa Wu (diving) (3/5/1992) are also 16 years of age.

Twenty-three is the age of the most number of athletes - with 51 athletes that age at the Games.

Twenty-six is the average age of the team.

BIRTHDAYS DURING THE GAMES PERIOD

To see a list of all the athletes who will celebrate their birthdays in the month of August, click here>>>

AYOF ATHLETES

To see a list of all the athletes who have competed at an Australian Youth Olympic Festival, click here>>>

TEAM RELATIONS

Brothers, sisters, husbands, wives and more - all competing together in Beijing. For a full list of all related athletes on the 2008 team, click here>>>

OLYMPIC FAMILY HISTORY

Twenty-three members of the 2008 Australian Olympic team have family members who have competed at the Olympic Games. For the full list, click here>>>

INDIGENOUS ATHLETES

Nine athletes in the 2008 Australian Olympic team are indigenous. Victorian discus thrower Benn Harradine will be the first indigneous field athlete to represent Australia at an Olympic Games.

Desmond Abbott (Hockey), Luke Boyd (Boxing), Rohanee Cox (Basketball), Paul Fleming (Boxing), Benn Harradine (Athletics), Anthony Little (Boxing), Patrick Mills (Basketball), Jade North (Football) and Stacey Porter (Softball)

 

ATHLETES BORN OUTSIDE OF AUSTRALIA

In the team, there are 43 athletes who were born outside of Australia. To see a complete list of names, sports and birth countries, click here>>>

UNIFORMS

The formal uniform is supplied by Australian owned Mileno shoes and iconic fashion label Sportscraft. Athletes will wear the formal uniform to the official flag raising ceremony in the Olympic Village and the Team Reception. The uniform to be worn at the Opening Ceremony will be seen for the first time on the night of the 8th of August. The uniform will contain an '08 08 08' theme, incorporating the date of the Ceremony, chosen for the lucky significance of the number eight in China.

The competition uniform is supplied by adidas. The uniforms combine the traditional Australian colours with improved technologies and climate control.

130,000 - total number of uniform items for the team
11,000 - total number of socks for the team
5,000 - total number of bags for the team

Smallest item - sock; Largest item - fencing bag; Thickest item - judogi (judo uniform); Thinnest item (swimsuit)

FREIGHT

By March 2008, seven containers were shipped to Beijing including one for sailing, one for rowing and six containing various goods. Interesting items included: three convenience vehicles, sailing boats, 1000 Boxing Kangaroo toys, medical supplies and 55 boxes of Vegemite.

Going by air to Beijing are 12 horses, 1.2 tonnes of bikes for the four cycling disciplines, competition and training boats for rowing and canoe/kayak (slalom and flatwater).