Category: History
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Notable Australian Sporting Deaths in 2024
By Greg Blood List of notable Australian sportspeople that died in 2024. These people have contributed significantly to their sport and Australian sport in playing, coaching, administration or media roles. Sport Australia Hall of Fame (SAHOF) lost four members – Kevan Gosper, Neale Fraser, Andrew Plympton and Sir Donald Trescowthick Administration Athletics Australian Football Boxing…
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Reflecting on David Crawford’s Contribution to the Australian Sport System
By Greg Blood The recent passing of David Crawford AO made me reflect on four sport reviews that he authored or chaired that have impacted on sport in Australia. For many of those that worked in sports administration from 1990 to 2011, the name David Crawford became synonymous with sport governance and the organisation of…
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Australian Sports Books & Films 2024
By Greg Blood List of books and films covering Australian sport in 2024 that tell the story of specific sports, athletes, teams, events and issues. This year’s list also includes films that are primarily documentaries. It includes links to the publisher and description of the book. There is an increasing number of children’s books written…
australiansportreflections
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Changes in Australian Sport Leadership Positions in 2024
By Greg Blood Since 2000, I have been tracking changes in CEO’s and Chairs/Presidents of major national Australian sports organisations. Listed are changes that have occurred in 2024, an Olympic/Paralympic Games year. List highlights the significant turnover of CEO’s as opposed to Presidents/Chairs. This could be partly due to the end of Olympic/Paralympic Games cycle.…
australiansportreflections
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Reflecting on Greg Hartung’s Induction into the Australian Paralympic Hall of Fame
By Greg Blood Hartung as Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) President led it from a small disability sports organisation with limited funding and resources to a well-resourced national sports organisation that is now an important part of Australian’s integrated high-performance sport system. In 2020, I was fortunate to gain great insights into Hartung’s significant sport administration…
australiansportreflections
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Movement of Australian Olympic and Paralympic Athletes Between Nations : Historical Insights
By Greg Blood The movement of 2024 triple Olympic medallist Matthew Richardson to Great Britain has been scrutinised in the media and social media. Richardson’s move is relatively rare for an Australian high performing Olympic and Paralympic athlete. It is important to recognise Australian sport has greatly benefited from athletes from competitor nations transferring to…
australiansportreflections
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Characteristics of the 2024 Australian Olympic Team: age, gender, experience, longevity, location, education, indigenous, family and direct athlete support
By Greg Blood This article endeavours to provide insights into the 2024 Australian Olympic Team. Olympian characteristics provide insights into the Olympian “runway”, their likely period in competing at the highest level and their likely employment post their Olympic athletic career. With Brisbane being selected to host the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, we frequently…
australiansportreflections
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Review of Australian Team Sports at the Olympics and Paralympics 1908-2024 – Updated
By Greg Blood The 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be another test of the strength of Australia’s Olympic and Paralympic team sports. Since 2012, there has been a decline in the medals won by Australian Olympic and Paralympic teams sports. From 1996 to 2012, team sports won more than one medal at the Games.…
australiansportreflections
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Para-Table Tennis in Australia – A Journey from Hospital Wards to High Performance Innovation
By Arthur Wilks and Tony Naar, June 2024 Documents the development of para-table tennis Australia from 1957 Stoke Mandeville Games to 2020 Toyko Paralympics. Lists Australian athletes that have competed in every major international competition. 56 page PDF document (2.7 KB)
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Albanese Government Endorses the Independent Review into the Australian Institute of Sport.
By Greg Blood The Independent Review Report highlights the reasons for the 249.7 million investment into the “spine of Australian sport – the AIS in Canberra. The last major investment into AIS facilities in Canberra was in the 2002 Howard Government budget where $65 million was allocated over six years for the development of –…
australiansportreflections