2006 in Australia - Sport

Sport

  • 1 January – The Football Federation of Australia officially becomes a member of the Asian Football Confederation.
  • 2 February – First day of the Australian Track & Field Championships for the 2005–2006 season, which are held at the Sydney Olympic Park in Homebush. The relays were conducted at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 19 February 2006.
  • 16 February – Dale Begg-Smith wins Winter Olympic gold in the men's moguls at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.
  • 23 February – Alisa Camplin adds to her gold in Salt Lake City with a bronze in the women's aerials.
  • 28 February – Melbourne Tigers defeat Sydney Kings 88–83 in Game 3 of a series sweep in the NBL Grand Final series.
  • 5 March – Sydney FC defeats the Central Coast Mariners 1–0 to win the inaugural A-League championship.
  • 5 March – Australians Troy Corser and eventual World Champion Troy Bayliss win the two races making up the Australian Superbike Grand Prix at Phillip Island.
  • 15 March-26 March – The 2006 Commonwealth Games take place in Melbourne. Australia finishes on top of the medal tally for the fifth consecutive time & wins a record 221 medals-84 gold, 69 silver & 68 bronze.
  • 28 March – Queensland defeats Victoria to win the Pura Cup.
  • 2 April – Eventual 2006 World Champion, Fernando Alonso takes victory for Renault F1 in the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park, Melbourne.
  • 30 April – St Kilda players & umpires fail to hear the final siren. St Kilda scores behind after siren has gone, resulting in the match being a draw. This is later overturned on an appeal to the AFL commission & Fremantle is awarded the four points.
  • 17 May – At Aussie Stadium, Anthony Mundine defeats Danny Green in their long awaited bout.
  • 9 June-9 July – The Socceroos participate in the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany for the first time since 1974. They are drawn in Group F along with Brazil, Croatia & Japan. They come second in their group & face off against Italy. They lose to them 1–0 as a result of a controversial penalty awarded in the dying seconds of the match.
  • 2 July – Lee Troop wins the men's national marathon title, clocking 2:14:13 in Brisbane, while Jennifer Gillard claims the women's title in 2:41:06.
  • 5 July - The 2006 State of Origin series is won by Queensland who defeated New South Wales 16–14 in the third and deciding game at Melbourne's Telstra Dome before a crowd of 54,833. The Wally Lewis Medal for player of the series was awarded to Queensland's Darren Lockyer.
  • 5 September - The 2006 Dally M Awards are held at Sydney Town Hall and the Dally M Medal for player of the year is presented by prime minister John Howard to Cameron Smith of the Melbourne Storm.
  • 8 September – Peter Brock dies in a smash while driving in the Targa West rally
  • 17 September – Marco Melandri wins the 2006 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix held at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit. Australian Chris Vermeulen was second.
  • 30 September – In a rematch of the previous year's AFL Grand Final, the West Coast Eagles (12.13.85) defeat the Sydney Swans (12.12.84) to take out the 110th VFL/AFL premiership. It is the first time since 1966 that the Grand Final has been decided by a margin of one point.
  • 1 October – The 2006 NRL grand final is won by the Brisbane Broncos who defeated the Melbourne Storm 15–8 before a crowd of 79,609 at Sydney's Telstra Stadium. The Clive Churchill Medal was awarded to Brisbane's Shaun Berrigan.
  • 8 October – Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup win the V8 Supercars Bathurst 1000 race for Team Betta Electrical, Ford's first win since 1998. They are the inaugural winners of the Peter Brock Trophy.
  • 28 October – Fields Of Omagh ridden by Craig Williams wins the Cox Plate for the second time.
  • 29 October – Mikko Hirvonen, and co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen, driving a Ford Focus win the last Rally Australia to be held in Western Australia after 19 years of the rally.
  • 7 November – Delta Blues wins the 2006 Melbourne Cup.
  • 21 November – Ian Thorpe announces his retirement from competitive swimming.
  • 25 November - The 2006 Rugby League Tri-Nations tournament is won by Australia, who defeated New Zealand 16–12 in the final at Sydney's Aussie Stadium before a crowd of 27,325.
  • 18 December – Australia wins the Third Ashes Test by 206 runs at the WACA Ground in Perth, Western Australia, claiming The Ashes.
  • 21 December – Shane Warne announces that he will retire from cricket after the Fifth Ashes Test. Glenn McGrath announces he will do likewise after the 2007 Cricket World Cup on 23 December.


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