Australia first competed in the
Winter Olympic Games in
1936 in
Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and has participated in every Winter Olympics since, with the exception of the
1948 Games in
St. Moritz. Australia achieved its first medal, a bronze, in 1994 in the men's 5,000 metres short track relay speed skating event.
Zali Steggall gained Australia's first individual medal in 1998 when she won bronze in the slalom event. In 2002,
Steven Bradbury won gold in the 1,000 metres short track speed skating and
Alisa Camplin won gold in the aerials event, making Australia the only
southern hemisphere country to have ever accomplished gold at a Winter Olympics.Australia sent 40 competitors to compete in 10 sports at the
2006 Games in
Turin, a record number of athletes and events for the nation. For the first time, there was a stated aim of winning a medal, and this goal was achieved when
Dale Begg-Smith won the gold medal in men's freestyle skiing. Camplin attained her second medal, a bronze in the aerials event.
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