In Australia athletic sports are both popular and widespread.  Watching of sports and participation in them are activities that are at a much higher level than in many other countries.  In fact, Achievement in both the Olympic Games and the Commonwealth Games demonstrates a national fixation  and a certain domination in quite a few international sports such as swimming and other water sports including team sports such as water polo.  The climate and access to sports facilities create ideal conditions for Australians to compete in and observe water sports.

Austrialia takes its sports seriously.  Each state and territory in Australia has agencies responsible for sport and recreation policy, and throughout the country a wide variety of sports are played.  The most popular sports in Austraila are Australian rules football, horse racing, motor racing, rugby, ricket, and soccer.  They are also very fond of their equestrian sports, tennis and golf.  Australia is a long-standing power in golf.  It has one of the highest numbers of golf courses per capita in the world.  The Australian Open was first played in 1904 and is one of the main annual golf tournaments in the PGA Tour. One of the world's number one ranked golfers for much of the 1980s and the 1990s was Greg Norman.  Also very well known are Stuart Appleby, Adam Scott, and Steve Elkington.

Sports Trivia Australia -

Archery is overseen by Archery Australia, the nation's most successful international archer is Simon Fairweather who has been a former World and Olympic champion.

Badminton - The first Badminton competition in Australia was played in 1900.  The is currenctly governed by Badminton Australia.

Shooting is a popular sport in Australia, with over 765,000 licenced shooters.

The country has had international success in Beach volleyball.

Australian teams have had success at Water Polo, both at the Olympic Games and World Championships.

Yachting:  Australia is powerhouse for sailing, winning the America's Cup in 1987


Funny Sports Trivia -

The North Queensland Broomball Association is the governing body for Broomball in north Queensland, Australia.

American style football as played in the NFL is called "gridiron" in Australia

Australia is one of the dominant forces in international competition in the sport of Lawn Bowls.  There are lawn bowls clubs in most towns down under

Australian ultimate Frisbee is governed by the Australian Flying Disc Association!

Beach Cricket is actually very popular in Australia!



Easy Sports Trivia Questions -

Australian sports trivia not unlike UK sports trivia, will feature questions that involve sports and athletes that are apt to have westerners scratching their heads.  These include:

Dick Eve who won Australia's first Olympic diving gold medal in 1924

Michael Diamond who won numerous medals in the Olympics and Commonwealth Games at shooting.

And Walter Lindrum who is often referred to as "the greatest English Billiards player so far seen in this sport".  He holds some 57 world records.

About The Author:
This article was written by Mark Soveign who owns and writes for Wertheim Communications LLC as well as Mooker.Com