Australia competed at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. 180 competitors, 146 men and 34 women, took part in 115 events in 20 sports. Australia performed poorly, winning one silver and four bronze medals. The result that spurred Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser to set up the Australian Institute of Sport.
In the second Olympic archery competition that Australia contested, the nation sent two women and two men. Only one archer, Terence Reilly, had Olympic experience. He dropped 11 places from his 1972 finish.
Women's Individual Competition:
Carole Toy — 2305 points (→ 15th place)
Maureen Adama — 2114 points (→ 25th place)
Men's Individual Competition:
David Anear — 2407 points (→ 13th place)
Terence Reilly — 2331 points (→ 26th place)
Men's 4 × 400 metres Relay
Max Binnington, Peter Grant, Don Hanly, and Rick Mitchell
Heat — 3:05.75 (→ did not advance)
Men's 5.000 metres
David Fitzsimons
Heat — did not start (→ did not advance, no ranking)
Men's 10.000 metres
Chris Wardlaw
Heat — 28:17.52
Final — 28:29.91 (→ 12th place)
David Fitzsimons
Heat — 28:16.43
Final — 29:17.74 (→ 14th place)
Men's 400m Hurdles
Don Hanly
Heat — 51.90s (→ did not advance)
Peter Grant
Heat — 51.07s (→ did not advance)
Men's Long Jump
Chris Commons
Heat — 7.46m (→ did not advance)
Men's Marathon
Chris Wardlaw — 2:23:56 (→ 35th place)
David Chettle — did not finish (→ no ranking)
Ross Haywood — did not finish (→ no ranking)
Men's 20 km Race Walk
Ross Haywood — 1:30:59 (→ 12th place)
Men's Hammer Throw
Peter Farmer
Qualifying Round — 69.92m
Final — 68.00m (→ 12th place)
Men's competition
Preliminary Round (Group A):
Lost to Cuba (89-111)
Lost to Soviet Union (77-93)
Defeated Mexico (120-117)
Lost to Canada (69-81)
Defeated Japan (117-79)
Classification Matches:
5th/8th place: Lost to Italy (72-79)
7th/8th place: Lost to Cuba (81-92) → 8th place
Team Roster:
Robbie Cadee
Ian Watson
Andrew Campbell
Tony Barnett
Eddie Palubinskas
Perry Crosswhite
Russell Simon
Michael Tucker
Andris Blicavs
Peter Walsh
John Maddock
Ray Tomlinson
Head Coach: Lindsay Gaze
Twelve cyclists represented Australia in 1976.
Individual road race
Clyde Sefton — 4:49:01 (→ 28th place)
Remo Sansonetti — 4:49:01 (→ 34th place)
Alan Goodrope — did not finish (→ no ranking)
Peter Kesting — did not finish (→ no ranking)
Team time trial
Ian Chandler
Remo Sansonetti
Sal Sansonetti
Clyde Sefton
Sprint
Ron Boyle — 20th place
1000m time trial
Stephen Goodall — 1:08.610 (→ 12th place)
Individual pursuit
Gary Sutton — 6th place
Team pursuit
Stephen Goodall
Kevin Nichols
Geoff Skaines
John Thorsen
Three fencers, two men and one woman, represented Australia in 1976.
Men's foil
Greg Benko
Ernest Simon
Men's épée
Greg Benko
Women's foil
Helen Smith
Men's competition
Preliminary Round (Group A)
Defeated Malaysia (2-0)
Defeated Canada (3-0)
Defeated India (6-1)
Lost to the Netherlands (1-2)
Lost to Argentina (2-3)
Replay: Defeated India (1-1, 5-4 after penalty strokes)
Semi Finals
Defeated Pakistan (1-2)
Final
Lost to New Zealand (0-1) → Silver Medal
Team Roster
( 1.) Robert Haigh
( 2.) Rick Charlesworth
( 3.) David Bell
( 4.) Greg Browning
( 5.) Ian Cooke
( 6.) Barry Dancer
( 7.) Douglas Golder
( 8.) Wayne Hammond
( 9.) Jim Irvine
(10.) Stephan Marshall
(11.) Malcolm Poole
(12.) Robert Proctor
(13.) Graeme Reid
(14.) Ronald Riley
(15.) Trevor Smith
(16.) Terry Walsh
Head Coach: Mervyn Adams
Two male pentathletes represented Australia in 1976.
Individual
Peter Ridgway
Peter Macken
Men's competition
Preliminary round (Group C)
Lost to Hungary (6-7)
Lost to West Germany (3-4)
Lost to Canada (5-6)
Classification group
Lost to Canada (3-4)
Defeated Iran (8-2)
Lost to Soviet Union (2-7)
Tied with Mexico (4-4)
Lost to Cuba (3-8) → 11th place
Team roster
Andrew Kerr
Charles Turner
David Neesham
David Woods
Edmond Brooks
Ian Mills
Paul Williams
Peter Montgomery
Randall Goff
Rodney Woods
Ross Langdon
Head coach: Tom Hoad
