Grit & Gold: Tales from a Sporting Nation
Images (left to right): David Moore, Portrait of Dawn Fraser, Melbourne, 1963 (detail), nla.obj-140402089 [left hand upper]; Serena Ovens, Portrait of Louise Sauvage, 1996 paralympian (detail), nla.obj-136368441 [left hand lower]; Bruce Howard, Sydney's Warwick Capper taking a spectacular mark over Mick Martin of the Kangaroos in a game at the MCG on Anzac Day, 1991 (detail), nla.obj-148148262; Steve Holland, Australian cricketer Shane Warne holding a cricket ball and stump at the end of the Fourth Test of the Ashes Series, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, 2006 (detail), nla.obj-137980452.
Images (left to right): David Moore, Portrait of Dawn Fraser, Melbourne, 1963 (detail), nla.obj-140402089 [left hand upper]; Serena Ovens, Portrait of Louise Sauvage, 1996 paralympian (detail), nla.obj-136368441 [left hand lower]; Bruce Howard, Sydney's Warwick Capper taking a spectacular mark over Mick Martin of the Kangaroos in a game at the MCG on Anzac Day, 1991 (detail), nla.obj-148148262; Steve Holland, Australian cricketer Shane Warne holding a cricket ball and stump at the end of the Fourth Test of the Ashes Series, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, 2006 (detail), nla.obj-137980452.
Grit & Gold: Tales from a Sporting Nation brings you a celebration of Australia's rich sporting heritage and its effect on our culture over the years. Through a collection of books, magazines, paintings, drawings, photographs and memorabilia, the exhibition retells the stories that have brought joy, sorrow and everything in between to every Australian household (and sports pub) on game day and beyond.
Treasured memories of Australian sporting events from the Olympics, tennis, swimming, cricket and racing among others will be on display at this exhibition. This includes David Moore's portrait of champion swimmer Dawn Fraser, the iconic Shane Warne at the MCG during the 2006 Ashes series and Betty Cuthbert's Golden Girl moment at the 1956 Olympics.
Grit & Gold takes you on a journey from local sporting carnivals to worldwide events, covering moving stories of dedication and passion to the evolution of inclusivity in major sporting events. Join us in this tribute to the sporting stars and the local heroes as we race down memory lane.
This is an exhibition for anyone who has stood on the sidelines cheering on their children or in a grandstand supporting their favourite team. It's game on at the National Library of Australia.
The exhibition ran from 9 June 2023 to 28 January 2024 in Canberra.
The National Library would like to thank Getty Images, the National Museum of Australia, the Australian Sports Museum, the Geelong Football Club, the National Rugby League and the Tumut Blues Rugby League Old Boys Inc. for providing material for this exhibition. We would also like to thank Emma McKeon AM for lending a selection of her Olympic and Commonwealth Games medals.
Exhibition checklist
Kids activities
Keep the ball rolling after you've visited Grit & Gold, with our sport themed activity sheets.
Exhibition highlights
Steve Holland, Australian cricketer Shane Warne holding a cricket ball and stump at the end of the Fourth Test of the Ashes Series, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, 28 December 2006, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-137980452
Serena Ovens, Portrait of Louise Sauvage, 1996 paralympian, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136368441
I. F. Weedon, English & Australian cricketers great match, England v. Australia played at Lord's Cricket Ground, London, 19th, 20th, 21st July, 1886., 1887, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136081473
David Moore, Portrait of Dawn Fraser, Melbourne, 1963, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-140402089
Portrait of Don Bradman, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136645367
Jack Earl and Millards, Chart of the course for the annual Sydney to Hobart yacht race, 1950, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-591521673
John Larkins, Betty Cuthbert, the Golden Girl, 1956, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-141613554
Bruce Howard and Herald and Weekly Times, Sydney's Warwick Capper taking a spectacular mark over Mick Martin of the Kangaroos in a game at the MCG on Anzac Day 1991, 1, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-148148262
William Henry Corkhill, Tilba Tilba ladies cricket team], 1905, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-140255567
Robin Smith, Teaching children to ski at Falls Creek, Victoria 1995, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-147758762
See Grit & Gold online
Bring the Library to your lounge room with the Grit & Gold virtual tour.
Press 'Play' to start exploring. If you need assistance, instructions for navigating the tour can be found below.
To navigate the tour, press the 'Play' button in the centre of the screen and then use the arrow keys on your keyboard, click or drag your mouse, or click on the white circles on the Gallery floor to move around the Gallery.
- Clicking on the orange icons will bring up information about the exhibition and the themes explored.
- Clicking on the grey icons near each item brings up the item captions and background information about an item.
- Clicking the purple and green icons on the exhibited items will bring up an image of the item and a link to the digitised version on Trove, where available.
- Clicking on the yellow icons will bring up a link for a web page to find more information related to an item.
- Clicking on the blue icons will bring up our labels for kids.
- Clicking on the red icon in the final room of the exhibition will bring up information on the Grit & Gold book.
If you need further assistance, more information can be found by clicking the 'Help' button in the bottom right-hand corner of the virtual tour screen.
Let us know what you thought of the virtual tour by using our Feedback form.
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