Australian Sporting Medals

Sporting victory is often celebrated through the presentation of a medal. Medals become a physical, lasting reminder of an athlete’s success and the glory of their achievement, and signify an athlete’s many years of hard work and dedication.
Different sports and competitions have different traditions around the type, number and quality of medals they award, and the emphasis placed upon them.
The National Sports Museum has a wide selection of medals that show the variety of medals presented across the history of Australian sport.

Sports like cycling and rifle shooting have a long tradition in Australia of presenting medals. Rifle shooting competitions were particularly popular in rural areas where agriculture was the major industry.

P.A. Pavey, won this medal at the Victorian Rifle Association Championship in 1931.

Peter Antonie is one of Australia’s most successful rowers. In 1986 he won gold in the lightweight single sculls at both the World Championships and Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, where he received this medal.

Antonie won a Gold medal in the double sculls at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games with rowing partner Stephen Hawkins. The pair overcame a sizeable gap to clinch victory.

He also won the Australian men's single scull title in 1993.

Les Harley was a champion across multiple sports including boxing, wrestling, diving and swimming.

He won this medal in 1933 at the Amateur Boxing and Wrestling Australian Union in the heavy boxing. The medal shows Australian state shields.

Harley won the bronze medal in heavyweight boxing at the 1938 Empire Games in Sydney, Australia. Commemorative medals were given to participants as a memento of the games.

The Museum contains the collection of diver Richmond 'Dick' Eve, including a selection of medals from victories across his career, showing the different type of medals an athlete can amass across their career, ranging from their early youth competition through to the top level of their sport.

Eve was a prolific medal winner at amateur competitions throughout the 1920s in Australia.

He won this award in the men's high dive at the Australian Amateur Swimming Association (AASA) Swimming Championships in 1925.

Dick Eve was not expected to win a medal at the 1924 Olympic Games, and he trailed the competition going into his final dive. Needing a near-perfect score to win gold, he did just that with a flawless swallow dive that scored him 13.5 points overall and delivered him the medal.

Eve travelled and competed in Europe around the time of the 1924 Olympics. He won a gold medal at the Tailteann Games in Dublin, Ireland in August 1924.

Competitors at major sporting events are often given medals of participation, such as this one given to Dick Eve at the 1924 Olympics.

Swimming siblings Lily & Frank Beaurepaire amassed a huge collection of medals over their long careers. Taken together they document the important story of these pioneering Australian sportseople.

The Frank & Lily Beaurepaire collections show the breadth of medals a sportsperson can win across their career. The collections contain over two hundred medals, from junior swimming competitions to the Olympic Games.

Lillian ‘Lily’ Beaurepaire was a trailblazing Australian sportswomen, as illustrated by her collection of sporting medals. At a time of overwhelmingly male participation at the Olympic Games she was a prominent figure in the push for the greater acceptance of women in international sport.

Lily Beaurepaire was a talented swimmer and diver at school, often contesting and winning the boys’ races, such as the one for which she was awrded this medal in 1908.

She excelled at state and national competitions.

Lily Beaurepaire became the third woman to represent Australia at the Olympic Games when she competed at Antwerp in 1920.

She was the only woman in the Australian team and contested three events in two different sports, swimming and diving.

Sir Frank Beaurepaire, Lily's older brother, was one of Australia’s greatest Olympians, winning six medals across three separate Games.

He won numerous awards in international competitions, such as the Helms Athletics Foundation competition in 1910.

Beaurepaire competed at the 1908 London Olympics, winning silver in the 400m freestyle and bronze in the 1500m.

Beaurepaire also won bronze in the 1500m and silver in the 4x200m relay, at both the 1920 and 1924 Olympics.

This medal from the Frank Beaurepaire collection also shows how people are honoured for deeds beyond sporting victory, proficiency or skill. Beaurepaire was recognised for his efforts in assisting in rescuing a shark attack victim at Coogee Beach in New South Wales in 1922.

In gratitude for this act, he was awarded a number of medals, including this one, presented by the NSW Surf Life Saving Association.

Medals are often presented to mark a lifetime of achievement in a sport.

Bowls champion Glyn Bosisto was inducted into the Sports Australia Hall of Fame in 1985.

Bosisto was also made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1977 for his service to sport and the community. He raised money for various charities through lectures and exhibition games. Reluctant to financially gain from his name and reputation, he only took on honorary coaching roles.

Commemorative medals are a way of recognising the efforts of people involved in sporting events as participants, officials or volunteers.

The World Veterans’ Games, now World Masters Athletics Championships, is a biennial international athletics competition which was held in Melbourne in 1987.

Medals are treasured by their winners and their families, whether an Olympic gold or a prize medal from childhood.

Regardless of what they are awarded for, sporting medals are a symbol of the way society recognises and remembers key achievements and moments in sport.