Sport and recreation

A marathon runner smiles and holds his fists up as he runs

Michael Jensen, Robert de Castella winning the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games Marathon, Brisbane, 1982, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136995791

Sport and Australian culture

This resource is aligned to the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education for Year 7, 8, 9 and 10 students.

Digital Classroom

A handwritten diary entry in an old fashioned script.

George Thomson, Diary entry for Tuesday 26 May 1868, Diary of George Thomson, 1868-1869, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3308197449

Indigenous Australian cricket team touring England in the 1860s

Australians have often gone to great lengths to see their favourite sporting teams, even back in the 1860s!

News article

Two woman in green and gold clothing embracing excitedly in front of a crowd.

Leigh Henningham, Matildas fans reacting to an Australian goal at a public screening of the Australia vs Canada 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup match at Federation Square, Melbourne, Victoria, 31 July, nla.obj-3254738517

Photographs of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup

The Library commissioned photographers to capture the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.

News article

Group of men in white pants and dark blazers standing in a field. One of them holds a previous version of the Australian flag and another a sign that Reads 'Australie'

Léquipe d'Australie, 1924, nla.obj-148686918

Voyage to the 1924 Paris Olympics

Explore letters written by Dorothy Richmond about her experience travelling to Europe with the 1924 Australian Olympic team.

Blog

Four illustrations of a man demonstrating the different stages of executing a swimming stroke.

Podporuchik Pokrovskiĭ, Samouchitel sportivnago plavanii︠a︡: sostavleno po novieiǐshim ni︠e︡metskim rukovodstvam I. V. Mang i E. Raush i dopolneno avtorom [detail], 1913, nla.obj-3264329400

Russian lessons on 'Australian' swimming

A 1913 Russian brochure on teaching the 'Australian method' of swimming has recently been added to our collection.

News article

Five girls playing a rugby game on a rugby pitch

Photographs of the 2022 Pacifica Youth Rugby Cup

Four photographs of the 2022 Pacifica Youth Rugby Cup have recently been added to our collection.

News article

My Story: A Life in Basketball and Beyond by Lauren Jackson

Sports stories part 2: On the court and in the pool

In the second part of our sports stories series, we turn our attention to books by and about the Australian athletes on the basketball and tennis courts and in the swimming pool.

Blog

Sports stories part 1: On the field

Since the Library was founded, our goal has been to collect and share Australian stories. Recently, we have been particularly focused on exploring Australian sports stories through our exhibition, Grit & Gold: Tales from a Sporting Nation.

Blog

Three friends watch Rugby World Cup 2003 from the Rocks

Ben Rushton, Three friends in the crowd at the Rocks watching the last minutes of the live telecast of the Rugby World Cup final in 2003, nla.obj-148690668

And the crowd goes wild

It’s no secret that Aussies love coming out in droves to support their favourite athletes. Amongst the many thousands of online photographs from the National Library collection are images of noteworthy sporting events and the crowds that showed up to support them.

Blog

Frontispiece and title page of Melchisédech Thévenot, The Art of Swimming. The second edition. London: Printed for John Lever, 1764, nla.cat-vn7756220

Rare book highlights – Swimming in 1764

This blog, by the Library’s Rare Books and Music Curator Dr Susannah Helman, explores this charming little book, just in time for the last days of summer. It may even be helpful the next time you take the plunge!

Blog

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