PARIS -- Australia has been represented on many Olympic podiums, but there's one that's eluded the country for 68 years: the official medal tally. And not that wishy-washy one that's become popularised in the United States, the real one. The one that is recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and ranks every nation by gold medals won, with silver and bronze medals being the tiebreaker. The way it should be.
At the Melbourne Games in 1956, Australia tallied 13 gold medals to finish in third place, behind runaway leaders Soviet Union (37) and the United States (32). It was, and has always been viewed, as the nation's best performance at the Olympics.
READ: Who has won Australia's gold medals in Paris?
Since then, the closest Australia has come to repeating the feat was a pair of fourth-place finishes at both Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004. But after Wednesday's unprecedented and spectacular gold rush -- where four gold medals were added to the tally in a little over five hours -- there's now a very real chance Australia ends that 68-year drought in Paris.
With just two days -- really a day and a half -- of Olympic competition remaining, Australia currently has a firm grasp on the overall bronze medal. Its athletes have amassed a tally of 18 gold, 16 silver, and 14 bronze to trail only the United States (33-39-39) and China (33-26-23).
Leading the pack of nations looking to chase down Australia is Japan. Three gold medals in the final three hours of Day 14 saw Japan jump up into outright fourth with 16 golds, just two shy of Australia. Crucially, however, Australia leads the silver medal count by eight, so in order for Japan to leapfrog Australia, it would need to tally another three gold medals, not two.
Japan still has a number of legitimate gold medal hopes heading into the final 48 hours. Its women's table tennis team will face China on Saturday afternoon for gold, golfer Miyū Yamashita is just two shots back from the leaders heading into the final round at Le Golf National, and Ai Mora is a contender in the women's boulder and lead final. Japan also has live chances for gold in breaking, wrestling, and taekwondo.
Behind Japan, France and Great Britain are tied on 14 gold medals.
The host nation has been riding a wave of home support to what's already its best Olympic haul since the first time the Games were in Paris, in 1900. It has 14 gold medals, plus 20 silver and 22 bronze, but can it find another four golds over the next two days to jump ahead of the Australians?
Much like Australia, most of the sports France was likely to medal in have now concluded -- swimming megastar Léon Marchand alone accounts for four of those 14 gold medals -- but there are still a few more opportunities to add to the tally. If it happens, it will likely be through team sports, with its men to face the United States for basketball gold and its women squaring off with Norway for handball gold. Golfer Céline Boutier is also firmly in contention for the Olympic title at -4.
And then there's Great Britain. Team GB could easily have had one or two more gold medals in track and field, but alas its count stands at 14 gold, 20 silver, and 23 bronze. Its best chances for more gold over the final two days of competition will come in athletics at the Stade de France, particularly in the women's 4x400m relay, and at the velodrome with Ethan Hayter and Emma Finucane.
It's difficult to see any other nation making a late charge. South Korea and the Netherlands are next on the medal tally, both having tallied 13 gold medals. Germany on 12 and Italy on 11 rounds out the top 10.
It's also worth remembering reaching 18 gold medals is the minimum for each of these countries. There's no reason why Australia doesn't add to its already record-breaking golden haul in Paris. The women's water polo team, the Stingers, will face Spain for gold on Saturday afternoon, while Jessica Hull looms as a genuine chance of upsetting Kenyan star Faith Kipyegon in the women's 1500m. Mackenzie Little is also amongst the favourite for gold in the women's javelin.
Australia is in the box seat to finish as the third best sporting nation on the planet for just the second time in its rich Olympic history. But fending off Japan over the last two days of competition will prove difficult. If it can pull off the feat, it will be one accomplished some 16,000 kilometers from the country's shores, and that -- combined with an already record number of gold medals -- surely has to make Paris the most successful Games ever for Australia.