Edwin Flack - Our first Olympic champion
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EmailAustralia's first Olympic champion, Edwin Flack, owned and operated a dairy farm in Berwick and his final resting place is in the Berwick Cemetery.
In the Athens 1896 Olympic Games, the first Olympic Games of the modern era, Edwin Flack won the 800 metre and 1500 metre athletic events. Flack was one of the most popular athletes at the 1896 Games and became fondly known as the 'Lion of Athens'.
Edwin Flack owned and operated a dairy farm in Berwick and has been laid to rest in the Berwick Cemetery. A statue commemorating Flack and his athletic achievements stands in the median strip of High Street, Berwick.
The Australian Olympic Committee has recognised Flack's importance in Australian Olympic history and has adopted the name Edwin Flack Avenue to one of the streets adjacent to the Olympic Stadium in Homebush Bay, venue of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
Read through the fascinating story of Edwin Flack's trek to Greece for the first Modern Olympics.
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The City of Casey thanks John Riley for his assistance in compiling this story. Casey also acknowledges "Australia and the Olympic Games: An Official History", by Harry Gordon (Queensland University Press, 1994)
The History of the Olympic Games and Olympic Torch Relay
What the newspapers said about Edwin Flack
After the Games, back to London, the stockbook and the journal
25 things you probably didn't know about Edwin Flack