Bingo! Great Aussie Sporting Moments Quiz

Answer: Australia II

Such was the euphoria of the Australian victory that, during the celebrations at the Royal Perth Yacht Club, in response to a journalist's question as to whether or not the day should be declared a public holiday, the Australian Prime Minister, Bob Hawke, declared "any boss who sacks a worker for not turning up today is a bum". This was no small victory because, for 132 years the America's Cup had remained bolted in the bowels of the New York Yacht Club. Many had challenged the Americans but, until the Australians in 1983, they had all fallen aside like sails without wind.

And, as gallant as the Americans were in defeat, so too were the Australians stirring in their efforts. Fittingly, for the first time in the long history of the event, the best of seven battle to decide the Cup, had gone beyond five races. To make this victory even more memorable, the Ben Lexcen designed Australia II, skippered by John Bertrand, had to come back from a deficit of three-one to win races five, six and seven to secure victory.

The fight, however, was not just won on the water but in the courtrooms as well. It was claimed that the revolutionary "winged keel" employed by the Australians was not legal and that the boat had not been "designed and constructed in country" as was required by the rules of the race. Both complaints were dismissed, and the cup made its way to a new home in Perth. In many respects, this victory was a coming of age for Australia, a point duly recognized by Ronald Reagan, the President of the United States, who noted in his congratulations that "all Australians should be justifiably proud of their extraordinary team effort".

Footnote: One little duck is the bingo call for the number two.

Answer: 1987

This win, their first, stands out. Simply because it was against the odds. The retirement of three legends of the Australian game in 1983 - Greg Chappell, one of the best batsmen of his generation, Rodney Marsh, their revolutionary wicketkeeper and one of the finest fast bowlers the world had seen in Dennis Lillee - saw the country's fortunes on the cricket field slump to one of its deepest lows. When the team to contest the World Cup in 1987 was announced, the blunt assessment by the critics was that they were "inexperienced and mediocre". Their form in the One Day arena was poor (at best), having lost their preceding five series. It is fair to say, they were the rank outsiders in the tournament.

To highlight the low regard in which this team was held, when they arrived at Madras where they were to play the tournament hosts, India, they were relegated to the "number two" oval to practice on... "it had cows on it" cried Geoff Marsh, the team's vice captain. However, out of this adversity came the now famous quote from the team's all-rounder, Simon O'Donnell, "lose patience, you lose the battle". It would become the team's mantra.

While it wasn't known at the time, the way Australia would go about winning the tournament would, eventually revolutionize the game. Australia's coach Bob Simpson conceded that the opposition possessed better bowlers and better batsmen and, while this could be used as a form of excuse, there was no reason why the Australians could not be better fieldsmen. To this end, they practiced relentlessly, for hours at a time, in forty degree heat (104 Fahrenheit). "Other sides thought we were crazy" expressed future captain Steve Waugh. Simpson pushed further, stressing that discipline on the field began off the field and, to the chagrin of the players, he banned the drinking of alcohol... branding this tournament "The Cup with No Beer".

After a shaky one run victory over India in the opening game, the Australians remained patient, they held their nerve and, in the final, held out the mighty English cricket team by a mere seven runs. This victory would become a launch pad for the Australians to begin a domination of the sport in the 1990s that would run for almost 15 years.

Footnote: Torquay in Devon... Devon rhymes with seven.

Answer: 1

"Doing a Bradbury", to describe an improbable victory, has now become part of the Australian colloquial vernacular. In 2002, Steven Bradbury, made the final of the 1,000 metre short track event. He remained at the tail of the field for (almost) the duration of the race. His four opponents, in the scramble for the gold medal, became entangled on the final corner and crashed. Bradbury, who was fifteen metres behind at the time, was able to avoid the carnage and remain the last man standing, to glide across the line a winner. The win meant that, for the first time, Australia had won a gold medal at the Winter Olympic Games. In fact, it was the first time that any Olympian in the Southern Hemisphere had won gold at the Winter Games.

Many have called this fortuitous and yes, there was luck involved, but what many have failed to see is that, for Bradbury, this was a tale of persistence. Nor was he a slouch, though he was easily the veteran in the field. He had competed internationally for eleven years. He'd won a World Championship gold medal as part of Australia's short track relay team in 1991 and had won a bronze relay medal, Australia's first ever Winter Olympics medal of any colour, at the Lillehammer Olympic Games in 1994. Most fail to realize that many competitors across the globe failed to qualify for these Games. Steven Bradbury did. There were many at these Games that had failed to make the final of the event. Steven Bradbury did. Finally, to win the gold medal, the first rule of the event was to stay on your feet... only Steven Bradbury did.

Footnote: "What, no clue" I hear you say. Bradbury's victory went viral across the globe and is now so well known that a clue was not really needed here. Also, the bingo call for the number one is "all alone", a clue that would have given away the answer.

Answer: 2011

Australians had been present at the Tour de France for almost a hundred years and, whilst some had made a mark on the event - Phil Anderson held the yellow jersey on two occasions, Robbie McEwen having twice won the overall green jersey and Baden Cooke claiming the points classification - none had managed to claim the maillot jaune after crossing the Champs-Elysees on the final day. That is, until 2011, and the arrival of Cadel Evans.

Evans had ridden his first Tour in 2005, finishing a commendable eighth. The following year he narrowly missed a podium finish before finishing runner up in 2007 and 2008, in two of the closest finishes the event had witnessed in its history. In 2011, yet again, Evans had put himself in serious contention. His race, however, appeared to be all over on the 18th stage when the Luxembourgish professional, Andy Schleck, made a decisive break up the Col d'Izoard. While the rest of the peloton remained in doubt as to whether they should pursue Schleck or not, Evans decided to go it alone. Without support he ground out every excruciating kilometre in a desperate bid to claw back every possible second that he could. He would finish the stage two minutes behind Schleck, which left him a minute behind overall. The penultimate stage of the race was the next day. It was a grueling time trial through the streets and roadways of Grenoble. Cadel produced the effort of his life to, not only claw back the deficit, but add an extra 94 seconds advantage as Schleck wilted under the pressure.

Footnote: In bingo calling the two straight "legs" of the number 11, give it this distinctive call, leading to 2011 as your answer.

Answer: 72

The South Melbourne Football Club was formed in 1873 and commenced playing the following year. Known as the "Bloods" because of the red sash that adorned their all white jersey, they were successful in winning flags in 1909, 1918 and 1933, the latter being their last before their 2005 victory. During their march to the premiership in 1933 they were christened the "Swans" by a cheeky journalist who highlighted the large number of Western Australian players in the line-up. (The Western Australia state emblem being the swan).

Then, in 2005, before 92,000 people at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) they broke the (then) longest premiership drought in the League's history, defeating the West Coast Eagles by a mere four points, 58-54. As befitting of the occasion, this had been the narrowest margin in a Grand Final in almost forty years (when St Kilda defeated Collingwood 74-73 in 1966), and the drama lasted until the dying seconds. West Coast pressed forward for victory but Swans defender, Leo Barry, defied both gravity and his own personal safety to soar through the air and clutch a match saving mark, with West Coast only a short kick away from their own personal glory. Both the mark and the commentary attached to it are now etched in Australian Football League folklore.

Footnote. The clue, Danny la Rue, is rhyming slang for seventy two. Yes all of the given numbers end with two but the metre (beats) to dan/ny/la/rue (4) is only matched by se/ven/ty/two. The rest have three beats.

Answer: 2015

As the horse, Prince of Penzance, took its place in the stalls for the start of the 2015 Melbourne he was not even a blip on the radar of punters. He was a 100/1 outsider, and he wasn't even spoken about as a possibility to run a place in the 3,200 metre event. However, on his saddle sat Michelle Payne, only the fourth woman to ride in the prestigious event. In speaking about her horse's chances in the race, she indicated "it's not all about strength... it's about being patient".

Michelle settled her steed, affectionately known as "The Prince", just behind the leaders and came off the rails with a thousand metres to go, in search of a wider run. At this point the field opened before her and she urged the Prince into the gap, took the lead with one hundred metres to run and recorded a historic victory.

In 155 runnings of the Cup, this was the first time a female jockey had ridden home the winner and the odds of that outcome would have been longer than those of the Prince at the start. Michelle, though, was built of sterner matter. She'd suffered a horrendous fall in 2004, fracturing her skull and enduring severe bruising on the brain, only to mount up again despite the warnings from her doctors. With this victory, she'd won the hearts of the nation, told her detractors to (publicly) "get stuffed", and saw her victory voted into the Australian Sporting Hall of Fame as the "Magic Moment" of 2015.

Footnote: "Young and keen" is the call in bingo for the number 15. Acknowledge that there were two fifteens in that lot, but at least it reduced the question to a 50/50 guess.

Answer: Melbourne 1956

The date was March 11, 1956. The race was the Australian mile championship; the event where John Landy turned a foot race into folk lore. Half way through the third lap of the race, Ron Clarke, a man destined to become one of the world's greatest distance runners, clipped the heels of the runner in front of him and fell, right into the path of John Landy. Landy made an effort to hurdle the stricken Clarke, but he didn't quite clear him and his spikes landed on Clarke's arm. Several paces past Clarke, Landy stopped, turned and returned to his teammate, he apologized and then, to the amazement of the crowd, he helped Clarke to his feet. Clarke tells him that he's OK and that Landy should rejoin the race.

By this stage the rest of the field was well past Landy and it was estimated that the stop had cost him some seven seconds. Landy, however, was a competitive beast and he pushed himself through enormous barriers of pain to, not only catch the field, but to run past them and win the race.

Without trying to be biased, this selfless act - helping a mate in trouble and refusing to leave him behind - is typically Australian and it moved the Australian Sporting Hall of Fame to recognize this as the country's finest sporting moment of the 20th century.

Footnote: This was a bit of an obscure clue. A marriage license used to cost five shillings and sixpence (5/6). In announcing the number 56, the bingo caller would ask "Was she worth it" to which the audience would respond "every penny".

Answer: Mexico 1968

It remains one of the most iconic images in sport. The US sprinter, Tommie Smith, standing on the podium with a gold medal around his neck and his head bowed. His right fist, adorned with a black glove, is thrust toward the sky. He wears black socks but no shoes as a symbol of poverty. Behind him stands John Carlos draped with a bronze medallion. He too has his head bowed but it is his left (black gloved) fist that is thrust into the air. While the US national anthem echoes through the speakers Peter Norman, the Australian, stands staring straight ahead. He too is using this watershed moment to send a message... pinned to his breast is a badge bearing the words "Olympic Project for Human Rights", representing an organization that was set up in 1967 in opposition to racism in sport.

As an illustration as to the power of this image, this is one of those rare occasions where an athlete's action has been held up by the public and the Australian Sporting Hall of Fame as iconic... but it's also one that did involve an Australian victory. That, however, is the view today... the feelings were decidedly negative back in 1968. Norman's return home was a lonely one and, as a CNN report in 2012 indicated, "he came home a pariah and was never selected for an Australian Olympic team again". Shabbily, he was not invited as guest by the Australian Olympic Committee for the opening of the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000 but he did get to make an appearance.. as a guest of the US Olympic team.

Norman died of a heart attack in 2006 and it was only posthumously that he was recognized as one of his country's finest sprinters. His time at the 1968 Games of 20.06 seconds stood as an Australian record for 56 years, broken in 2024 by the teenage sensation Gout Gout. Norman did not live to hear the Australian Parliament issue an apology to him for the neglect that he'd been shown, nor was he around to accept the Order of Merit Medal that was bestowed upon him in 2018. Fittingly, Norman has been inducted into the Australian Sporting Hall of Fame, a bronze statue of him was unveiled at the Albert Park athletics track in Melbourne by Athletics Australia in 2019 and October 9 has now been enshrined as Peter Norman Day within that same organization.

Footnote: "Pick a mate" is rhyming slang for the number eight and, whilst all the answers do end with an eight, this moment is not just iconic for Australians but one that is prominent in the eyes of the world. I felt that you really didn't need too much of a clue here.

Answer: 5

Australia and New Zealand... neighbours, friends, ANZACs. However, put them into a sporting arena against each other and there is no room for the faint of heart, particularly when it comes to rugby union. During the 1990s Australia was a dominant force in world rugby. In 1999 they had won the World Cup, they'd smashed New Zealand 3-0 (a three match series) the previous year to regain the Bledisloe Cup, and retained that same trophy the following year by virtue of the series being drawn.

In the first match of the two test series to decide the Bledisloe in 2000, which was held at Sydney's Olympic Stadium, 109,874 spectators saw New Zealand storm to a 21-0 lead, after barely five minutes of playing time. Australia stormed back and, approaching the game's conclusion, had tied the scores at 35-35. In what many people have labelled the "Game of the Century", Jonah Lomu scored the matchwinner for New Zealand with only moments left in the match. Australia simply had to win the return fixture in New Zealand if it wished to retain the Bledisloe Cup.

The return bout was just as fierce and with only seconds left on the clock New Zealand was up by two points, in possession and on the attack. The ball went into touch and, from the ensuing line-out, Australia stole the ball and launched their own attack. The clock had moved past the 80 minute limit of the game but, the game was not over until the attacking side had the opportunity to complete their move. Then, a penalty is called against New Zealand.

The Australian captain, John Eales, recalled "the penalty was given and I had a smile on my face". He looked to Stirling Mortlock, one of the finest kickers the game has produced, to seal the deal, but Stirling was off the field injured. The kick was now his responsibility. "All of a sudden you change from being really excited about it, to being a bit anxious" said Eales. Most of New Zealand closed their eyes, they couldn't bear to watch. The distance of the kick was only fifteen metres, a distance any reliable kicker should have scored from. But it was the angle that Eales was on that gave the Kiwis a glimmer of hope... the angle was the sole difficulty. New Zealanders dared to hope... it had been a brutal game, was Eales feeling the effects of it, was he feeling fatigued, was he up to it mentally... they had their fingers, toes and hearts crossed. Eales hit the ball, you would not say he hit it beautifully, but it was accurate and, in the end, that was all that mattered.

Footnote: There were two clues to the answer here. "Man alive" is the rhyming call for the number five in bingo. The other was the mention that Eales was an Australian "lock". In rugby union numbers are allocated according to a player's position on the field. Locks wear numbers four or five. Four was not presented as an answer option.

Answer: 1.3 seconds

It had taken years of serious campaigning by women to, finally, get women's water polo placed on schedule of events at the Summer Olympic Games. It seemed appropriate then that the two loudest voices in this campaign, those of Australia and the United States, should meet in the final to contest the first ever gold medal in the event.

The final had proven to be a fierce contest and, at the start of the fourth and final quarter, the scores were locked at two goals apiece. Australia scored early in the last quarter and held the advantage. With twenty five seconds left in the game, the American team called a time out. Come the moment, come the gladiators. For the Americans it was Maureen O'Toole, one of the most decorated female water polo players to ever grace the pool. Remarkably, at these Games, she was 39 years old and, by a long way, the oldest player in the event. Her job in these dying seconds was to either score a goal or force an ejection. She secured the latter. In the confusion that ensued Brenda Villa evaded every Australia defender and scored the match tying goal. There were only thirteen seconds left on the clock.

Almost everyone's thoughts turned to extra time and finding that extra physical and mental strength to endure it. One of the few that didn't was Australia's Yvette Higgins. A foul was called on America's Julie Swell. Yvette was in position for the penalty play. She knew there was only 1.3 seconds on the clock. She also knew what she had to do. "You have to catch the ball and throw in one motion... you can't fumble, you can't baulk". For Yvette, this was the moment she had trained for. Long after her team mates had left training, she had remained in the pool, relentlessly, practicing for this specific moment. "The pass from Simone Hankin was perfect" she said, "had it been high or low, those valuable seconds would have been lost". Higgins caught the ball, flicked her wrist... the ball sailed through the air, deflected off the outstretched arm of the US goalie, Bernice Orwig, and hit the inside of the net. It was over.

Footnote: "Cup of tea" is the rhyming call in bingo for the number three.