Australian Sporting Highlights in 2016
The year 2016 was another year of highs and low in sports for Australian athletes. At the pinnacle of world sports, the Rio Olympics, Australia finished in a lower than expected 10th position on the medal table with a total of 29 medals (8 gold, 11 silver, and 10 bronze), Australia's worst result since the 1992 Olympics. Highlight performances were the win by the women's rugby 7s team, and Chloe Esposito's surprise gold in modern pentathlon.
34-year-old Australian basketball player Lauren Jackson announced her retirement, after an illustrious career which saw her star for the WNBA's Seattle Storm, winning WNBA's most valuable player three times, and leading Australia to four Olympic medals.
In golf, The world's no.1 Jason Day fell agonisingly short of defending his PGA Championship title in a thrilling finish to the final round where he shot an eagle on the last, leaving him 1 stroke behind the winner.
The Australian women's cricket team finished runners up in the women's T20 World Cup held in India. The defending champions were defeated by the West Indies in the final.
An AFL women's league was announced, with a huge TV audience for a demonstration game, with the competition to start early in 2017.
Basketballer Ben Simmons was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers with the No.1 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, the second Aussie to do so after Andrew Bogut in 2005.
The AFL team Essendon's drug scandal came to an end with the players receiving a significant ban for all of 2016.
Significant sporting deaths this year included:
- Forbes Carlile, modern pentathlete at 1952 Olympics and legendary Olympic swimming coach including Shane Gould among others.
- Former AFL players Paul Couch, who played 259 games for Geelong Cats and 1989 Brownlow Medallist, and Laurie Dwyer, who played 201 VFL games for North Melbourne and was a member of their 'Team of the Century'.
- Bernard 'Midget' Farrelly, won the first world surfing championship in 1964.
- Ron Massey, leading rugby league coach who worked with legendary Jack Gibson at Parramatta Eels and Eastern Suburbs and has the Ron Massey Cup named after him.
The highest paid Australian athlete was golfer Jason Day, who was 69th on the Forbes highest earners list with $23.6 million in earnings in 2016.
The 2016 Don Award, which recognises the sporting achievement of the year which has inspired the people of Australia, was awarded to female jockey Michelle Payne.
Here are details about some of the major sporting events in 2016 from Australia and abroad, with information relevant to Australians.
| Date(s) | Sport | Event | Location | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 18-31 | Tennis | Australia Open | Melbourne, Australia | No Australians made the quarter finals in either the mens or women's draw. |
| Jan 28–31 | Extreme Sports | Winter X Games 20 | Aspen, Colorado, USA | Australia won one gold, through Jarryd Hughes in the Men's Snowboarder X, finishing 4th on the medal table. |
| Mar 2-6 | Cycling | World Track Championships | London, UK | Australia finishing 4rd on the medal table with 2 gold, the men's team pursuit and Rebecca Wiasak in the individual pursuit. |
| Mar 8-Apr 3 | Cricket | ICC World Twenty20 | India | Australia failed to get past the Super 10 phase |
| Apr 7-10 | Golf | Masters | Augusta, USA | The best placed Aussie was Jason Day, finishing equal 10th at 1 over. |
| May 1 | Soccer | A-League | Adelaide Oval, South Australia. | Adelaide United won its first A-league championship, beating the Western Sydney Wanderers 3-1 in the Grand Final in front of a crowd of 50,119. |
| May 8-12 | Multi-sports | Invictus Games | Orlando, Florida, USA | 15 countries participated, including Australia |
| May 22-Jun 5 | Tennis | French Open | Paris, France | The best performing Australia was Samantha Stosur who made the semi-final |
| Jun 2-19 | Basketball | NBA Finals | USA/Canada | The Cleveland Cavaliers versus Golden State Warriors rematch from last year also featured Australians Andrew Bogut and Matthew Dellavedova. |
| Jun 16-19 | Golf | US Open | Oakmont CC, Oakmont, Pennsylvania | Jason Day finished equal 8th at 2 over |
| Jun 27-Jul 10 | Tennis | Wimbledon | London, England | No Australians made the quarter finals in either the mens or women's draw. |
| July 2-24 | Cycling | 2016 Tour de France | France | Adam Yates of Australian team Orica-BikeExchange finished 4th. Australian Richie Porte (riding for BMC Racing) finished in fifth place. |
| July 14-17 | Golf | The Open Championship | Royal Troon Golf Club, Ayrshire, Scotland | 11 Australians were in the field |
| July 28–31 | Golf | US PGA | Baltusrol (Lower Course), Springfield, New Jersey | The world's no.1 Jason Day finished 1 stroke behind the winner. |
| Aug 5-21 | Multi-sports | Summer Olympics | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | Australia finished in 10th position on the medal table with a total of 29 medals (8 gold, 11 silver, and 10 bronze) |
| Aug 21-28 | Rowing | World Rowing Championships | Rotterdam Netherlands | Australia did not win a medal |
| Aug 29-Sep 11 | Tennis | US Open | New York, USA | No Australians made the quarter finals in either the mens or women's draw. |
| Sep 3-11 | Baseball | Women's Baseball World Cup | Gijang, South Korea | Australia finished 5th. |
| Sep 7-18 | Multi-sports | Paralympic Games | Rio, Brazil | Australia finished 5th on the medal table. |
| Oct 1 | AFL | Grand Final | Melbourne, Australia | the Western Bulldogs appeared in their first Grand Final since 1961, beating the Sydney Swans by 22 points. The bulldogs won three consecutive finals from a record seventh position on the ladder to progress through to the Grand Final. |
| Oct 9-16 | Cycling | UCI Road World Championships | Doha, Qatar | Australia finished 11th on the medal table with three bronze. |
| Nov 1 | Horse Racing | Melbourne Cup | Victoria, Australia | Almandin produced a strong late run to catch Heartbreak City in the final strides and win by a head. |
| Dec 7-11 | Swimming | FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) | Windsor, Canada | Australia finished 9th on the medal table with 2 golds; Mitch Larkin in the 100 m backstroke and Brittany Elmslie in the 100 m freestyle. |
If you have a correction or know of events that should be included here, please let me know.
Related Pages
- Australian Sport Timeline
- Highlights of world sport in 2016
- Timeline (all years) in the world of sport
- For sporting events in 2016 and other future events, see the Calendar of Major Sporting Events
- More about the World of Sport
Any comments, suggestions, or corrections? Please let us know.
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