Right: Australia's Chef De Mission, Kitty Chiller, stood loyally behind her charges and declared at the end of the Games that the athletes had done their nation proud.
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Background information
(The information found below has been taken from three sources - a Wikipedia entry titled 'Australia at the 2016 Summer Olympics' which can be accessed at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_at_the_2016_Summer_Olympics; a Fox Sports Fox Scores report published after the Rio Olympics which can be accessed at http://www.foxsports.com.au/olympics/rio-2016-every-australian-medal-and-daybyday-comparison-to-previous-olympic-campaigns/news-story/5e2545cc21f764e4e9b1e78b25d57110; and a comment written by Steve Georgakis and published by SBS on August 19, 2016, titled 'Winning Edge - using public money to produce an Olympic spectacle to benefit corporates' which can be accessed at http://www.foxsports.com.au/olympics/rio-2016-every-australian-medal-and-daybyday-comparison-to-previous-olympic-campaigns/news-story/5e2545cc21f764e4e9b1e78b25d57110;http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2016/08/19/comment-winning-edge-using-public-money-produce-olympic-spectacle-benefit)
Australia competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. Australia was one of only five countries to have sent athletes to every Summer Olympics of the modern era, alongside Great Britain, France, Greece, and Switzerland.
Funding
In May 2014 Australian Sports Minister Peter Dutton announced that 650 Australian athletes identified as medal prospects would receive funding directly from a newly designed program that reallocated A$1.6 million from the Direct Athlete Support program.
In the lead-up to the Rio Olympics, the Australian Sports Commission advised that it had invested A$376.7 million in high performance sports in the Rio cycle 2012-2016. This amount includes funding to Winter Olympics and non-Olympic sports.
The Olympic funding program is titled 'Winning Edge' and is geared at maximizing Australia's chances of gaining medals.
In preparation for Rio, 'Winning Edge' was designed to ensure resources were aimed at the Australian athletes who had the best chance to medal. The Australian Government therefore allocated $260 million through the ASC to the various sports; some sports had their funding reduced while others had it increased.
On the conclusion of the Rio games draw it is now evident that many of these financially favoured sports, including swimming, hockey and cycling, have under-performed, or, at the very least, did not reach the ASC projections.
Summary of Medals Won by Australian Athletes
Australia won a total of 29 medals in the 2016 Summer Olympics - eight gold, eleven silver and ten bronze. A more detailed breakdown follows.
Gold (8)
Swimming - Men's 400m freestyle
Swimming - Women's 4x100m freestyle
Swimming - Men's 100m freestyle
Rowing - Women's single sculls
Sailing - Men's laser
Shooting - Women's trap
Rugby - Women's sevens
Modern pentathlon - Women's
Silver (11)
Swimming - Women's 200m butterfly
Swimming - Women's 4x200m freestyle relay
Swimming - Men's 200m backstroke
Swimming - Women's 4x100m medley relay
Rowing - Men's quad scull
Rowing - Men's four
Sailing - Nacra 17
Sailing - men's 470
Sailing - men's 49er
Cycling - Men's team pursuit
Walking - men's 50km race
Bronze (10)
Swimming - Men's 4x100m freestyle relay
Swimming - Women's 200m freestyle
Swimming - Men's 4x100m medley relay
Diving - Women's synchronised
Canoe/kayak - Women's slalom
Kayaking - K2-1000m sprint
Archery - Men's team
Equestrian - Team eventing
Track Cycling - Women's keirin
Walking - Men's 20km