Australia, a ‘Lifestyle Superpower,’ in the Paris Spotlight

Every four years Australia gets to flex a little muscle.

Conventional muscle in international relations is not something Australia is known for. It is a country of some, but limited, capabilities. Its hard power assets pale in comparison to those of the great powers, and its cultural reach – “Bluey” aside – is insignificant. As new great powers emerge within the Indo-Pacific, Australia’s relative weight will wane. And despite an instinctive national belief that the rest of the world should be fascinated by the country, the reality is that very few people are.

Yet at the Olympics these realities are a little different.

While still unable to compete with the two superpowers in the United States and China, on the medals table Australia is – for two weeks – a great power. It finished fourth at the Paris Olympics, just behind Japan, with 53 medals total. It is here the country gets to revel in its fantasies about itself. To Australians, the medal table should be the true reflection of global power. Military power, economic might, and cultural influence pale in comparison to sporting prowess in the Australian psyche.

Australia has certain natural advantages when it comes to international sporting achievements. It has no shortage of land for playing fields and other facilities, and weather that allows people to be outside running, swimming, and kicking balls all year round. It is wealthy enough to be able to afford expensive equipment, and has a work-life balance that provides the public with ample free time. It has also developed a culture that sees great value in sporting participation, not just achievement, and a great enthusiasm for watching whatever sport is on the TV or being played at the local arena.

Yet the drive in recent decades to excel at Olympic sports came as a reaction to what Australians consider a national humiliation.

At the Montreal games in 1976 Australia was able to win only five medals – one silver and four bronze. This was not only an affront to Australians’ sense of pride, but it was deemed unacceptable by the federal government, which in response set in motion the creation of the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) – a government-funded high performance training facility designed to make sure that Australia would never be embarrassed again.

The AIS has been a considerable success. Over the past four decades Australia has built itself into a sporting power across a wide variety of sports, and consistently finds itself near the top of the Olympic medal table. Notably, around 60 percent of the gold medals it has won at Olympics since 1984 (after the boycott of the 1980 Olympics) were won by athletes who have trained through the AIS. The federal government has found a way to boost Australia’s honor.

However, alongside the sense of internal national pride, like the former Soviet Union, Australia sees international sporting achievement as a reflection of the desirability of its society – a way to project a certain vision of itself into the international realm. Of course, Australia is not trying to mask an oppressive totalitarian state with its sporting victories (despite what some COVID Truthers might think), but it is trying to sell itself to the world as a “lifestyle superpower.” Australia, in this vision, is country where people lead active lifestyles in beautiful weather and the beaches are lapped by waves of abundance. In the global competition for high-skilled migrants, this vision is deemed a critical asset.

Of course, there are Olympic performances that can undermine the image of Australia that its sporting prowess seeks to project. A black swan like the breakdancer Rachael Gunn (aka Raygun) projects an entirely different perspective of the country, one of being oblivious to its own lack of capabilities in certain fields. While Australians are able to make fun of themselves, Australia is, and always has been, a nation of Rayguns.

The Australian slang term “dag” is used to describe someone unfashionable, with a lack of awareness about their own actions, appearance, or poor social skills. Raygun’s performance was undeniably daggy, something which has caused an equal amount of amusement and embarrassment in Australia.

Yet the fear for Australia is that this will be the enduring international image of the country from the Paris Olympics. Rather than the heroic feats of speed, skill, strength, and endurance, Australia's one great opportunity at power projection will be diminished by a single performance in an obscure sport. Maybe this could have the potential of being another Montreal moment, with the federal government deciding it needs to invest heavily in its own street cred.