Victorian athletes have contributed to 29 gold medals, which comprised 35 per cent of the national gold medal total (82), at the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games.
Forty-eight Victorian athletes won a total of 66 medals in 12 different sports at the Manchester Games.
Of the 67 athletes competing who hold scholarships at the Victorian Institute of Sport, 41 won medals in 10 different sports - 25 of these medals were gold.
Among the winners in Manchester were several experienced athletes such as Irina Lashko (diving), Damian Brown (weightlifting), Sarah Fitz-Gerald (squash), Catherine Freeman (track and field athletics) and Matt Welsh (swimming).
There were also a number of younger athletes such as Cadel Evans (cycling), Stephanie Moorhouse (gymnastics) and Lauryn Ogilvie (shooting) who succeeded in Manchester and have their careers ahead of them.
Dr Frank Pyke, Executive Director of the VIS, said: "The Victorian medal tally continues the impressive performance of Victorian athletes in international sport throughout the last decade. In these particular games, the biggest contributors to the Victorian medal tally were the sports of shooting, weightlifting and track and field athletics."
"However, Victorians presently are under-represented in some Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games sports such as swimming, men's hockey, triathlon, and lawn bowls, and we will need to step up our development programs in these sports in the future. The focus will now clearly turn on Melbourne and young Victorians will need every assistance if they are going to stand on the victory podium in their home city in 2006," Dr Pyke said.
