Australia has improved upon its Tokyo Olympic performance inasmuch as it eclipsed the United Kingdom at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games medal tally, despite the hosts earning a record haul.
Australia's 178 total medals is just 2 more than Great Britain's 176, the green-and-gold also finishing 10 gold medals ahead with 67.
Australia's 67th and final games medal was the men's hockey gold, with the Kookaburras storming to a 7-0 victory over India.
Swimmer Emma McKeon etched her name in the record books as the standout performer. McKeon won her sixth gold medal on the last night of competition at the Birmingham pool as the dominant Dolphins collected 25 gold medals - three shy of the swim team's best-ever Games haul four years ago - 20 silver and 20 bronze in Birmingham.
Of the 52 finals, Australians won 25 of them. And they set the only two world records of the meet.
McKeon's six gold medals equals the record for most golds at a single Games shared by fellow swim greats Susie O'Neill and Ian Thorpe.
And her eight overall medals in Birmingham equals O'Neill's record for the most at a single Games.
McKeon had earlier broken the record for the career gold medals (14) and most career medals (20) at the Commonwealth Games.
Oliver Hoare provided one of the highlights of the Birmingham Games, joining Australian sporting icon Herb Elliott as the only Australians to win 1500m or mile gold medals at the Games with a remarkable run. Fourth at the top of the final straight, Hoare powered home in Games record time, also lopping more than two seconds off his personal best.
The first ever Commonwealth Games cricket T20 gold went to Australia's women with a thrilling 9 run win, also over India.
Australia's netballers overcame a qualification scare, avenging their loss to Jamaica to defeat the Sunshine Girls 55-51 in the final.
Australia's medal haul improved in comparative terms against Great Britain compared with the delayed Tokyo Olympics. At the July to August 2021 '2020 games', Great Britain placed fourth overall after it garnered 65 medals, well ahead of Australia in sixth place on 46.
Australia continues to punch above its weight, with the historic total Olympic medal count showing Australia has an Olympic medal for every 46,500 Australians, compared with over 71,000 for the UK, 37,000 for New Zealand, 338,000 for the USA and 1.42 million for China.
For the 429 athletes competing for Australia at the games, 178 medals represents a medal per 2.41 athletes, compared with 2.38 at the 2018 Gold Coast games and the peak 1.88 at the record overall haul of 221 medals at the 2006 Melbourne games.