Why is Australia so good at sport?

While it was true that many Australians were proud to be British throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, and embraced British sports at a time when the Anglo-Saxon countries viewed themselves as the most superior peoples of the world, Australia's own desire to be globally relevant was gradually expressed through international sport.

This included sporting rivalries with Britain and other former colonies such as New Zealand and South Africa in a number of sports, especially with cricket against England after the latter's home Test defeat in 1882 led to the battle for the Ashes with its importance persisting to this day.

Our adoration of sporting heroes was also evident in our early days as a nation. For example, 100,000 people lined Sydney streets to pay their respects after the death of the champion middleweight boxer Les Darcy in the US during 1917, while the death of the champion racehorse Phar Lap in the US during 1932 from an arsenic dose led to a theory that US gangsters killed him to protect their illegal bookmakers.

Most Australians, from political elites to wage earners, have long celebrated great global sporting achievements, as perhaps best demonstrated by Australia winning the Americas Cup in 1983 from the Americans, despite being a sport fought mostly between wealthy magnates.

With the love of competitive sport firmly entrenched in Australian society over the years, Australia's men and women have long benefited from emerging international sporting opportunities.

In the case of female sport, whereas once OG participation was limited to a few events from 1912, and women in the early 20^th century were discouraged from playing physical games like football, our women have long been competitive in international sport.

After the Second World war, and advantaged by Australians being much less affected by the food rationing and other problems facing post-war Europe, Australian females were very successful in OG sprinting and swimming during the 1950s and 1960s.

While Australian OG success fell away by 1976 as the previous amateur nature of most sports was challenged by the professionalism of the Eastern bloc countries led by the Soviet Union, I do not believe that Australia's recent sporting success depended entirely on extensive government support.

This is despite Australian governments from the early 1980s taking up elements of the successful East German approach to also adopt early talent identification processes, intensive coaching, and federal and state sporting institutes with medical, technical and scientific support.

While greater government expenditure did help Australia again become a top ten OG power in terms of medals won by 1992, after Australia failed to win a OG gold medal in 1976 and just two in 1980, there are other reasons why Australia's international sporting success has persisted.

This is because success in sport has always depended upon passionate Australian athletes and coaches passing on their acquired knowledge to new generations through their dedication to sport.

This is especially true in sports like cricket, despite that sport also employing research scientists at times to ensure that its science remains ahead of that of its competitors.