Sporting Nation

Australia is a sporting nation. Sport is officially everywhere. It even helps us describe matters other than sport. We speak of being in the home straight, dropping the baton, getting down the wicket to the bowling, raising the bar, having a game plan and taking it one week at a time. John Clarke, arguably Australia's greatest natural athlete, looks at how Australia came to take its sport so seriously and what it means to be a sporting nation. The series celebrates our sporting achievements (and we ask what the word 'our' means, since most of us didn't do it). We also examine the sporting passion of spectators and look at how sport has shaped us as a nation. We speak to athletes, coaches, commentators and Prime Ministers about sport and they confirm what we suspected: that if so many people are interested in sport, it's certainly not just about sport. We meet legendary sporting heroes. We ask them how and why they achieved such prodigious deeds. And we listen carefully, for the answers are not what you'd think. Whatever you think of sport this series should interest you. And if you love sport, you won't be able to wipe the smile off your face.