A flurry of four gold and two bronze medals on Day 12 has tipped Australia past its previous best result of 17 gold in Athens 2004 and Tokyo 2020, and 16 gold in Sydney in 2000.

Pole vaulter Nina Kennedy wrote herself into history in more ways than one when she delivered the record-breaking 18th gold medal in front of a rapturous crowd at the Stade de France.

It was also Australia’s first-ever gold medal in Women’s Pole Vault as the 27-year-old was the only competitor to clear 4.90m.

“I didn’t know that until just now,” Nina said of her history-making gold.

“That is just insane.

“I can’t wait to go home and watch a replay of the whole Olympics, like honestly.”

The foundations of Australia’s Paris path to history were laid on Day One when cyclist Grace Brown also broke new ground, delivering Australia’s first-ever gold medal in the Women’s Time Trial.

As Grace stood atop the podium, her family and friends who couldn’t get tickets for the event were nearby on a boat on the River Seine and in full voice singing the national anthem with her.

The river of gold then led to the pool that night where Ariarne Titmus kick-started the Dolphins’ campaign in style by successfully defending her 400m Freestyle title in an epic final from rival superstars Summer McIntosh and Katie Ledecky.

More history beckoned when Australia’s 4x100m Freestyle relay team won an unprecedented fourth consecutive gold medal in the event.

Shayna Jack, Mollie O’Callaghan, Meg Harris and Emma McKeon - who claimed the sixth gold medal of her career - set an Olympic record on their way to winning the final.

Little did we know on day two when Jess Fox then won the Canoe Slalom Women’s K1 gold medal - which had eluded her at the three previous Olympics - that there would still be so much more to come.

By successfully defending her C1 gold medal from Tokyo just days later, Australia’s Flag Bearer became the most decorated canoe slalom athlete in Olympic history.

The next one was arguably the most emotional of the lot when Jess watched her sister Noemie win gold on Olympic debut in the Women’s Kayak Cross which was almost making its Olympic debut in Paris.

The swimmers continued their strong Games with Mollie O’Callaghan winning her first individual gold medal in the Women’s 200m freestyle, and she got the Women’s 4x200m Freestyle relay team off to the perfect start before Lani Pallister, Brianna Throssell and Ariarne Titmus brought it home in Olympic record time of 7:38.08.

One of the best stories from the pool belonged to Cam McEvoy who clinched his first gold medal at the age of 30 and at his fourth Games.

Having reinvented himself to focus solely on the 50m Freestyle, Cam became the first Australian to ever win gold in the event and by the barest of margins with his time of 21.25 in the final just 0.05 of a second ahead of Great Britain’s Ben Proud.

Kaylee McKeown also rewrote the record books at La Defense Arena, becoming the first Australian athlete across any sport to win four individual gold medals when she won the 100m and 200m Backstroke double.

She also became the first swimmer in history to successfully defend both backstroke events at consecutive Olympic Games.

The gold rush then moved to the BMX track where the tears flowed as fast as Saya Sakakibara could ride as she became the first Aussie - male or female - to win a BMX Racing title.

Saya was cheered on from the stands by her parents and brother Kai, who had his own promising BMX career cut short when he suffered a serious head injury in a crash just before the Tokyo Olympics. Saya led the final from start to finish, and buried the demons of her previous Games in Tokyo where she crashed out in the semi-final.

The clay of Roland Garros has been the scene of plenty of historic moments and Australia added another in the Men’s Tennis Doubles when Matthew Ebden and John Peers broke a 28-year gold medal drought.

Seemingly down and out when they trailed a set and 2-4 in the second to the USA, Matthew and John dug deep and produced a comeback for the ages to win 6-7, 7-6, 10-8, which was the first time Australia had won Olympic gold in the doubles since the famous ‘Woodies’ with Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde in 1996.

While most 14-year-olds were at school this week, Arisa Trew was conquering the world on a skateboard.

By winning the Women’s Park with an extraordinary final run, Arisa became Australia’s youngest ever Olympic gold medallist at just 14 years and 86 days, usurping swimmer Sandra Morgan who won gold at 14 and 184 days in Melbourne in 1956.

Needing to topple Japanese skater Cocona Hiraki’s score of 92.63 in the final, Arisa showed nerves of steel well beyond her years to produce a remarkable 93.18 in her final run to claim gold and her own place in history.

There was more gold at the skate park soon after when Keegan Palmer successfully defended his crown in the Men’s Park.

Keegan set a high bar with an incredible opening run that wowed a packed house at La Concorde and would ultimately prove too good for his rivals as he won his second Olympic gold medal by the age of 21. 

They say good things come to those who wait as sailor Matt Wearn knows all too well. He endured a frustrating wait with unpredictable conditions at Marseille to become the first sailor from any nation to successfully defend gold in the Men’s Dinghy.

Already forced to wait 24 hours for the chance to race, his first attempt was abandoned just minutes from the finish line due to conditions, meaning he had to compose himself 40 minutes later for a restart where he produced a dominant performance to win gold.

It was a much longer wait - 20 years in fact - for Australia to win the Men’s Team Pursuit on the velodrome when Sam Welsford, Kelland O’Brien, Conor Leahy and Oliver Bleddyn broke the drought in Paris with Australia’s first gold medal in the event since Athens 2004.

Recovering from the broken handlebar disaster in Tokyo, and losing to Great Britain by just 0.7 of a second in Rio, the Team Pursuit faced their arch rival in a thrilling Box Office finale in Paris.

Just 0.2 of a second separated Australia and Great Britain all race before the Aussie quartet broke their opponents on the final lap and won by two seconds - the gold medal going nicely with the world record they set the day before.

On 17 gold medals and with history beckoning, all eyes then turned to Stade de France where Nina Kennedy stared down both the bar and reigning American Olympic champion Katie Moon to make history for herself and her country.

And just like that, Australia has already recorded its most successful Olympic Games ever, on the back of pioneers and history-makers who have inspired an entire nation watching on with pride back home.

With 18 gold, Australia sits third on the medal tally behind only the USA and China.

And it’s not over yet.

With four days of competition and plenty of medal chances remaining, we might just be reaching for the record books again.

Reece Homfray