Based on their collective experience at 12 Olympics, Sportshounds Games experts Louise Evans and Mike Osborne predict another world top-five finish on the medal table for Australia – with about 18 gold medals and 60 medals in total.
How does a nation at the end of the world with a small population of 26 million manage to consistently finish in the world top eight on the Olympic medal table?
The secret is right there in our national anthem – “Our home is girt by sea” – meaning we’re surrounded by water.
The majority of Australians live by the sea. We invented freestyle and we’re excellent swimmers. We’re great rowers, paddlers, sailors and surfers too.
It’s integral to Australia’s medal tally that swimming kicks-off the Olympic program. Our swimmers hit the Olympic pool and start winning gold, pumping belief through the entire team. Top eight finish on the medal table in Paris? No worries. Let’s go for top five.
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Australia finished sixth in the world with 17 gold, seven silver and 22 bronze for a total of 46 medals. In Rio 2016 and London 2012 Australia was eighth with eight golds at each Games, Beijing 2008 fifth with 14 gold, Athens 2004 was fourth with 17 gold and Sydney 2000 was also fourth with 16 gold.
So Australia has finished in the world top eight at the last six Olympics over the previous 24 years with between eight and 17 gold medals. So that’s the bench mark.
In Paris there will be 16 days of continuous world-class competition, 32 sports, 35 venues including beach volleyball under the Eiffel Tower and equestrian at the Palace of Versailles, 329 events and around 10,500 elite athletes from 206 countries.
Sportshounds Olympic experts Louise Evans and Mike Osborne have crunched the numbers based on our collective experience working at 12 Olympics.
We predict another world top five on the medal table is definitely achievable with a gold medal haul matching the nation’s best of 17 or more.
There are 21 sports where Australian athletes are ranked, and in form, to win a total of about 60 medals. Here’s where we see the medals coming from within the team of 460 athletes in green and gold.
As Chef de Mission Anna Meares said there are of course no guarantees. And let’s not forget we just don’t watch sport at the highest level to see the favourites triumph – but also to witness the surprise breakthroughs and the unexpected.
Athletics – Mackenzie Little javelin | Nicola Olyslagers & Eleanor Patterson high jump | Matt Denny discus | Jess Hull 1500m | Nina Kennedy pole vault | Jemima Montag 20km walk |
Nicola Olyslagers, 27, is the world indoor high jump champion and the Olympic silver medallist who is addicted to flying. “I am so much fitter and stronger and more powerful and experienced now than I was at the Tokyo Olympics where I did 2.02m and was so close to jumping 2.04 metres,” the Sydney-based jumper said. “So what’s possible in Paris – I am aiming high. I want to fly.” Her big rival is Ukraine world record holder and world champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh. Three weeks before the Games started Mahuchikh set a stunning new world mark of 2.10m, which Olyslagers predicted in February was the next barrier. The new world record is one centimetre higher than the 1987 world record set by Bulgaria’s Olympic and dual world champion Stefka Kostadinova. Eleanor Patterson, also 27, is a former world champion (Oregon 2022) who is a renowned big event performer having also won gold at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games plus silver medals in the 2023 Budapest World Championships, the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games and the 2022 Belgrade World Indoors. Patterson believes having the courage to “let go” will ultimately produce the perfect jump that wins medals.
Nicola Olyslagers’s path to Paris
Mackenzie Little, 27, the world javelin bronze medallist is known as Mack on the sporting track, Kenzy to her friends, Ken to her medical mates and Dr Little to her patients. Throwing the javelin is a side hustle for Dr Little who works at Sydney’s Royal North Shore Hospital. She willingly put her hand up for a week of overnight shifts so she could get time-off for some last minute competition in Europe before heading into Paris. With a world No2 ranking and a personal best of 65.70m Mackenzie is probably Australia’s busiest medal prospect and one of the best time managers. Little landed in Europe straight from a week of overnight shifts at the hospital to throw 64.74m and finish second behind Japan’s world champion Haruki Kitaguchi at the Monaco Diamond League event two weeks out from Olympics.
Mackenzie Little’s path to Paris
Matt Denny, 27, competes in an event that’s as old as the ancient Olympics and has been famously celebrated down the ages by a bronze statue titled The Discus Thrower which dates back to 450BC. Standing just shy of two-metres tall and weighing-in at 120kg, Denny is an intimidating athlete in an event dominated by hulks. The Diamond League and Commonwealth discus champion who finished fourth at the Budapest 2023 world championships is close to throwing 70m – a distance that should carry him to the Paris podium .“For me it’s not about medalling, it’s about winning,” Denny said. “That’s what we are here to do. There is no try – there is only do. And our focus is to win the Olympics.”
Jessica Hull, 27, ran into Olympic 1500m medal contention just weeks before the start of the Games in two world-record breaking nights at the Paris and Monaco Diamond League meets. Hull ran the fastest 1500m of her life to finish second behind Olympic and world champion Faith Kipyegon (KEN), who broke her own world record with a 3min49.04 victory. A fast-finishing Hull set the fifth fastest all-time mark behind Kipyegon, stopping the clock at 3m50.83 to lower her own Australian record by a stunning five seconds. The most impressive aspect of her race was the ease with which she stayed with Kipyegon’s world record pace. “To see my name in fifth (in the world) is nuts,” world No3 Hull said. A week later in Monaco she set her own world record in the non-Olympic 2000m event with a time of 5m19.70 finishing six seconds ahead of the field. “The way I have trained this year is to put myself in a position to medal in Paris. I just have to stay healthy and do it on the day that matters.”
Nina Kennedy, 27, is the reigning World and Commonwealth champion in the pole vault who heads into Paris ranked No2 in the world after clearing 4.88m at her first attempt in the Monaco Diamond League event two weeks before the Olympic Opening Ceremony. The height was below her personal best of 4.91m and the 4.90m she cleared at the Budapest 2023 World Championships to grab a share of the gold medal with American Katie Moon, the Tokyo Olympic champion who’s best this year is 4.85m. They are both trailing Britain’s Molly Caudery who has the best jump of the year to date with 4.92m but only cleared 4.83 in Monaco. “Obviously I want to win the gold medal. I think it is going to take the high 4.90s to win the Olympics,” Kennedy says.
Jemima Montag, 26, credits her Holocaust survivor grandparents for her work ethic and resilience which helped her win world championship silver in the 20km walk last year in Budapest. “When a training session or race feels tough, the feeling of Nana’s bracelet around my wrist reminds me that stoicism and resilience are in my blood,” she said. Montag, who finished sixth at the Tokyo Olympics, is ranked world No3 after she shaved seven seconds off her own national record in Adelaide with a 1hr27min.09 victory. When not race walking Montag is doing a postgraduate medical degree to enable her to work in the preventative health and wellbeing sector.
Basketball – Boomers | Opals |
Boomers – “If it is a brotherhood at the Olympics then they have a really good chance to play for gold,” former Australian coach and Boomers captain Phil Smyth predicts. The Boomers team includes eight of the Olympic bronze medallists who broke through to win their first medal in Tokyo. After a subdued build-up Patty Mills, 35, will play at his fifth Olympics along with fellow Boomer Joe Ingles. Mills, a veteran guard of Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal descent, is coming off a quiet NBA season where he had limited court time with the Atlanta Hawks and Miami Heat. Josh Giddey, the Oklahoma City Thunder star recently traded to the Chicago Bulls, plus Dallas Mavericks pair Dante Exum and Josh Green are expected to do the bulk of the heavy lifting in what’s been billed as the most talented squad ever. The Boomers have the pressure of playing on the first day of Olympic competition on Saturday July 27 in the “Pool of Death” against heavyweights world No2 Spain, NBA-player heavy Canada and Greece which boasts NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, one of the world’s best players. Canada is perhaps the biggest danger as it has more depth than all other counties outside of the USA. Serbia, France and the reigning World Cup champs Germany are all expected to compete with the Boomers for medals. The matches are: Saturday, July 27 vs Spain from 7pm AEST; Tuesday, July 30 vs Canada from 9.30pm AEST; Friday, August 2 vs Greece from 9.30pm AEST.
Opals – The return of 43-year-old legend Lauren Jackson should put the world No3 Opals back in the frame in Paris. After winning silver or bronze medals at five consecutive Olympics from Atlanta 1996 to London 2012, the Opals were beaten in the quarter-finals at the past two Games in Rio and Tokyo. But Jackson did not play in those two Games, retiring after four Olympics from Sydney 2000 to London 2012. Jackson’s selection for Paris marks an incredible return to the Olympic arena 12 years after last playing at London where she was the Australian Flag Bearer. Opals captain Tess Madgen described the team as more like a sisterhood heading into Paris. “We have the absolute best team of athletes, we are much more than a team, we are a sisterhood and we carry with us all the Opals from the past and we draw on their strength. We are all so grateful to be here and make no mistake we are very hungry so bring on Paris.” The Opals are in Pool B at the Olympics and will initially play three lower-ranked countries: host-nation France (world No7), Canada (No5) and Nigeria (No12) ahead of the quarter-finals.
Beach Volleyball – Mariafe Artacho del Solar & Taliqua Clancy
Peruvian-born Mariafe Artacho del Solar, 23 and her towering indigenous team mate Taliqua Clancy, 32 are the Olympic silver medallists who will be digging for gold in the Paris sand. “We were proud to be on the podium in Tokyo,” Artacho del Solar said. “To take it one step further we just have to trust in ourselves that we have the potential to take it all the way. The goal is definitely to play in that final again and bring back gold this time.” The venue will be spectacular. Beach Volleyball will be played in the heart of Paris in a temporary stadium constructed at the feet of the Eiffel Tower near the Seine River and the Trocadéro. “It’s so magical. To have the beach volleyball venue right in front of the Eiffel Tower is going to be amazing,” says Artacho del Solar.
Mariafe Artacho del Solar & Taliqua Clancy’s path to Paris
Boxing – Caitlin Parker | Harry Garside
Caitlin Parker, 27, is a trail blazing world championship silver medallist who’s the first Australian female boxer to compete in two Olympics. “There’s always been something in me to prove to myself and everyone that I’m good enough and that being female wasn’t going to stop me,” said the West Australian who lives and trains in Melbourne. Parker started boxing aged 11, after quitting dancing, at the behest of her dad who wanted her to be able to defend herself when walking to and from school. “I was always the only girl in the boxing gym,” the 75kg class boxer said. Parker committed to becoming an Olympian when women’s boxing was introduced at the London 2012 Games. “As soon as I found that out I decided ‘that’s it’, that’s my goal, I want to win a medal at the Olympics’,” Parker said. She describes Olympic boxing, which has 3×3 minute rounds of fight time, as “a fast paced chess game”. Parker is a member of Australia’s largest and most diverse Olympic boxing team which also includes Marissa Williamson Pohlman, the first Indigenous female Olympic boxer, and Tina Rahimi, the first Muslim woman.
Harry Garside, 26, won bronze in Tokyo, Australia’s first boxing medal since 1988, and is chasing a shinier hue in Paris in the light 57-63kg division. “My second Games, I’m going to be so much smarter this time, more mature,” Garside said. “The lessons I’ve learnt over the last three years have been invaluable. My goal is a gold medal.” said Garside who competes in the 63.5kg category. The boxing draw comes out just a few days before the start of competition.
BMX – Saya Sakakibara – Racing | Logan Martin – Freestyle |
Saya Sakakibara, 24, is a dual World Cup champion and the reigning world number one BMX racer who’ll be riding for redemption in Paris after crashing in Tokyo. In BMX racing, riders launch out of a start gate, down an eight-metre high hill and onto a bumpy 400m track at speeds of up to 60km/h. Sakakibara’s been preparing for the Paris Olympics at her base in Sarrians in southeast France, which she shares with French boyfriend Romain Mahieu, the reigning world No2 BMX racer, and the 2023 world champion. “We have a very relaxed environment at home and we have a lot of fun day to day,” she told Sportshounds. “Being in France in the lead up to the Olympics is a big advantage. The Olympic track is open for the riders, so I am able to have more time learning and mastering the track.” Coming into Paris the week of the Games from the same time zone is an advantage as well.”
Logan Martin, 30, the defending Olympic champion and current world No3, says he’s now fully recovered from a foot injury suffered in May and has been perfecting some new tricks to unveil at the Olympics. “They are ready to go and, if all goes to plan, I will have some new tricks in my best finals run at the Olympics,” he said. In BMX Freestyle athletes ride round a course with ramps, box jumps and walls performing tricks in two 60-second runs to qualify for the final. Nine of 12 riders progress to the final with the remaining nine getting two more runs. Five judges score points between 0.00 and 99.99 based on difficulty, originality, execution, height and creativity. The BMX Freestyle venue has serious wow factor – it’s been purpose built in downtown Paris at the Place de la Concorde, at the bottom of the Champ Elysees avenue with views of the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre museum. Martin has proved he handles the hot house pressure well. “I believe I can do it again and I’ll do my best to back up the Tokyo performance.
Canoe Slalom – Jessica Fox – Canoe and Kayak singles and Kayak Cross
Jessica Fox, 30, faces the most gruelling Olympic program of her already extraordinary career in Paris where she’ll be competing in three events – the canoe and kayak singles and the aggressive new Olympic event of kayak cross. Fox is already the GOAT – the greatest paddler of all time. She’s won 10 world championships plus four medals from three Olympics so far, including canoe gold at the Tokyo Olympics. Fox will be joined in the Kayak Cross by her younger sister Noemie, 27, who will be the fourth member of the Fox family to vie for the medals at an Olympics. Their English father Richard, a 10-time world canoe champion, competed at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Mum and coach Myriam paddled for France in 1992 and won bronze in Atlanta four years later.
Canoe Sprint – Tom Green and Jean van der Westhuyzen K1 & K2
Tom Green and his sprint canoe partner Jean van der Westhuyzen, both 25, dominated the K2 at the Tokyo Olympics,winning the gold medal in their first ever international race as a team. While the K2 is his favourite event, the Green Machine will also contest the K1 1000m in Paris, opening the possibility of a two-medal haul, a feat only achieved by fellow Gold Coast lifesaver turned world and Olympic champion kayaker Ken Wallace, who won gold and bronze at the 2008 Beijing Games. “We’re focusing on the K2 but I’m really in good shape and the numbers show I’m progressing in the K1 too – so let’s see,” Green said. He flashes a killer grin and says “see you in Paris, hopefully I’ll have another gold medal around my neck.”
Cycling – Grace Brown Road | Matt Richardson Track
Grace Brown, 32, road cycling women’s time trial 32.4km, Brown is a medal favourite for this event through the east of Paris as a result of being the 2022 and 2023 world championship time trial silver medallist. Paris is also about redemption for Grace who finished fourth at the Tokyo Olympics a result which “left me with a desire to go for more”. “I have big goals in Paris and that is to go after a medal on the first day of competition.” The race takes about 35-40 minutes and the route will be stunning.
Matt Richardson, 25, is on target to collect three medals in the team and individual sprints plus the keirin on what he describes as the world’s fastest sea-level track that’s “like NASCAR on bikes”. The English-born former gymnast won the individual sprint in at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games and the team sprint too with Matt Glaetzer and Leigh Hoffman. The same three who were 2023 world champions will be cycling for gold in Paris.
Matt Richardson’s path to Paris
Diving – Cassiel Rousseau 10m platform and Synhcro with Domonic Bedggood | Maddison Keeney 3m Springboard and Synchro with Anabelle Smith
Cassiel Rousseau, 23, is scared of heights but he has a superpower that allows him to spin and twist through the air with the greatest of ease before piercing the water like a bullet. It’s his superior aerial awareness which affords him the ability to spot where he is in the air as he launches off the 10m platform and free falls into the pool below. The French-speaking 2023 world champion from Queensland is in line to collect a unique slice of Games history in Paris. He has Olympic success running through his blood courtesy of his French grandfather (his Mum’s dad) Michel Rousseau who was also a world champion – in cycling. Grandad won gold for France in the cycling sprint event at the 1956 Melbourne Games and naturally is his No1 hero. Young Rousseau is hoping to honour his granddad’s legacy in Paris by also becoming an Olympic champion, thereby going down in history as a grandfather and grandson who both won gold while competing for two different countries in two different sports – 68 years apart. Rousseau will also team-up with teammate Domonic Bedggood, 29, in the 10m synchro.
Cassiel Rousseau’s path to Paris
Maddison Keeney, 27, and Smith, 31, won the gold medal at the 3m synchronised Olympic Test event in Paris and world championship silver earlier this year. Plus they’ve collected multiple World Cup podiums. The synchronised 3m is the first of two events for Keeney who will also dive for a medal in the individual 3m springboard. The vagaries of the Paris schedule means Keeney faces a 10-day gap between the synchro and her individual event. She’ll spend the down time at the Australian divers training base in Southend, the English coastal city in Essex an hour’s drive east of London. It’ll be the diving team’s holding camp before and during the Games, a place to rest, recover and reset.
Football – Matildas
Veteran forward Michelle Heyman describes being a Matilda as “like being Taylor-bloody-Swift, you can’t walk down the streets now that everyone knows who the Matildas are in Australia”. Such is the price of fame and the fan frenzy that now follows the Australian women’s football team everywhere. Everything changed for the Matildas when Australia hosted the 2023 FIFA World Cup and the Tillies rode a Swift-like wave of fan mania all the way to the semi-finals. They progress to the Paris Olympics after a run of 14 sold-out matches and will be based in the south of France where their pool matches are being staged in Marseille and Nice. The brutal reality is that the venerated Tillies are ranked world No12 and below seven other nations in the 12-country Olympic competition. They’ll also need more than Swift magic to survive their Pool B matches against 2016 Rio champion and world No4 Germany on July 25, four-time Olympic champions and world No.5 America on July 31 (both in Marseille) and lower ranked Zambia in Nice on July 28.
Hockey – Kookaburras
Tasmania’s sporting messiah Eddie Ockenden, 37, has already made history by becoming Australia’s first ever five-time hockey Olympian. But the history he’s seeking is more tangible. The Australian men’s hockey team is a dependable Olympic brand. They usually come home with a medal. They lost the gold at the Tokyo Olympics in a gut wrenching-penalty shootout with Belgium and came home with another Olympic silver – the team’s fourth. The Kookaburras haven’t won gold in 20 years – since Athens 2004. “We’re going to Paris with a realistic goal that our best is good enough to win gold,” Captain Ockenden says.
Eddie Ockenden’s path to Paris
Rowing – six boats
Australia has six strong rowing podium chances. Rowing Australia Sarah Cook, herself a world silver medallist, said the team was one of the strongest ever selected for an Olympics. The medal prospects are: Tara Rigney, world bronze medallist – women’s single sculls | Annabelle McIntyre and Jessica Morrison world silver medallists – women’s pair | Amanda Bateman and Harriet Hudson new crew – women’s double sculls | women’s eight | men’s four – the new oarsome foursome | men’s eight. The team has been hothousing their speed at the idyllic state-of-the art Australian Institute of Sport’s European Training Centre (ETC) in Gavirate, northern Italy.
Inside Australia’s pre-Olympic Italian training base
Read about the rowers paths to Paris here: Women’s single sculls | Women’s pair | Women’s double sculls | Women’s eight | Men’s eight | Men’s coxless four
Rugby Sevens – Women
Seven captain Charlotte Caslick, 29, is priming her warrior women for the coliseum event of the Olympics – the projected semi final between Australia and France in the women’s Rugby Sevens. France is a rugby colossus and the games are being held in the iconic Stade de France in Paris. It’ll be packed with 80,000 predominantly French fans baying for blood. “It’ll be incredible,” Caslick said. “It’ll be a packed stadium and we’ll be playing one of the most passionate rugby countries in the world, at home in Paris at the Stade de France, at the Olympics. “We have the potential to bring home gold. We have a talented squad, we’re young across the playing group and we have the talent and desire to win gold. France and New Zealand will be strong. We are going there to win.” Caslick was a member of the 2016 Rio Olympic champion team whose victory led to the explosion of elite female team sport in Australia. For the first time Australians watched elite female athletes play a full-on contact sport at the highest level. It was ground-breaking. History followed. The AFLW started in 2017 and the NRLW premiership kicked off in 2018. “Rio changed people’s perceptions and helped normalise contact sport for women,” Caslick said. “It’s so cool that a girl of six can now watch the Matildas, AFLW, women’s cricket – or us.”
Charlotte Caslick’s path to Paris
Sailing – Matt Wearn ILCA 7 one-man dinghy | Grae Morris – iQFOil windsurfing
Matt Wearn, 28, the Olympic and dual world laser champion who has learned how to bend the wind and the will of a warring fleet. He also has to survive 10 races held over six days of Olympic competition plus a double-point medal race at the end. The Olympic venue is the west-facing Marseille Marina on the Mediterranean 750km south of Paris. He created history at the Tokyo Olympics winning the third consecutive gold for Australia following the success of fellow green and gold sailors Tom Slingsby in London 2012 and Tom Burton in Rio 2016. He’s confident of creating more history by winning back-to-back Olympic gold. “There will be a lot of pressure and stress but I’m looking forward to that. If I sail the best I can on each day I’m hoping that will be enough to bring home another gold medal.”
Grae Morris, 20, is a former rugby player who will contest the new super fast iQFOil windsurfing class that’s making its Olympic debut at the Paris Games. Instead of a fin, the iQFOil board has a streamlined wing-like foil which lifts the riders almost a metre above the waves, allowing them to fly over the water rather than on it, with greater speed and manoeuvrability. The reduced drag also means greater danger and the risk of high-speed crashes. Morris will reach speeds of more than 60km per hour as he accelerates, twists and bumps his way around the course at the French port city of Marseilles. “It’s hectic and intense,” the 20-year-old daredevil said. “You’ve got to have all your senses working and be really on your game otherwise a lot can go wrong.” Morris finished fourth at an Olympic test event on the Marseilles course in July 2023 and moved into medal contention by becoming the under-21 world champion and finished fourth in the open final at the 2024 world championships.
Shooting Trap – James Willett | Cath Skinner | Penny Smith
Melbourne marksman Donald “Dead Eye” Mackintosh won Australia’s first gold medal at the 1900 Paris Olympics by shooting dead 22 pigeons. Mackintosh was called Dead Eye because he was blind in his left eye. Live pigeons were used as targets for the first and only time 124 years ago in Paris but have now been replaced by clay targets. Australia’s love of clay targets has bagged another five Olympic gold medals in what’s now called the trap and double trap. The quintet of Olympic trap champions started with dual gold medallist Michael Diamond in 1996 Atlanta and again in 2000 Sydney and Russel Mark in 1996 Atlanta in the double. At Athens 2004 Suzy Balogh became the first Australian woman to win Olympic shooting gold and then Cath Skinner rounded out the five with gold at the 2016 Rio Games. Skinner, 34, is backing up in Paris for her second Olympics having won a World Cup medal in Italy. She’ll be joined by fellow medal contenders, world No2 James Willett, 28, who won gold at the Baku World Cup in May, and Penny Smith, 29, silver at Baku. The event is being held at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre, 270m south of Paris.
Skateboard – Chloe Covell, Arisa Trew, Keegan Palmer
Three of Australia’s nine-strong skateboarding team have legitimate gold medal hopes – 14-year-old friends Chloe Covell and Arisa Trew, along with defending champion Keegan Palmer. Trew and Palmer compete in the skateboard park event held in a concrete bowl with ramps, quarter pipes and bumps; while Covell is in the street event set in an urban stage with stairs, curbs and handrails.
Keegan Palmer, 21, won the men’s park gold medal when skateboarding made its debut at the Tokyo Games and hopes to double up in Paris. “Being a two time Olympian for skateboarding … that’s wild,” he says, adding he’s “got a few things hidden up my sleeve”.
Chloe Covell, 14, took the silver medal at world championships. She says she hasn’t decided what tricks she’ll pull out for Paris. “I guess I’m going to have to see how my training’s going when I’m over there and once I see the course I’ll work out what I can do. I’ll just try to be unique.”
Arisa Trew, 14, grabbed international headlines when she was named 2024 Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year after becoming the first female to land a 720 trick (completing two full rotations in mid-air), made famous by American skateboard pioneer “Birdman” Tony Hawk.
Chloe Covell and Arisa Trew’s path to Paris.
The Aussie trio will be competing in front of a massive global audience with skateboarding taking place in the heart of Paris on the Place de la Concorde nestled between the Seine and the Louvre.
Surfing – Molly Picklum | Tyler Wright | Jack Robinson | Ethan Ewing
Australia’s four wave warriors all have a shot at gold and are all ranked in the world top 10: Jack Robinson, 26, world No3 | Molly Picklum, 21, world No4 | Ethan Ewing, 25, world No5 | Tyler Wright, 30, world No10. The venue for the Paris Olympics is their biggest rival – Teahupo’o on the southwestern coast of Tahiti, in French Polynesia. It’s one of the world’s most dangerous waves. “It’s magical, death defying, powerful, beautiful,” Picklum says. The men’s and women’s Olympic draw features 24 athletes divided into eight three-person heats for the opening round. The winner of the first heat advances to round three while the two losers compete again in round two, featuring eight head-to-head matchups with the loser being eliminated. After the first round, the rest of the match-ups are one-on-one. All four Australians have tamed Teahupo’o’s killer wave before as the Tahiti Pro is part of the World Surf League tour. Only Robinson has won there before in 2023. ”Winning an Olympic gold medal would be an historic moment, not just for me but for Australian surfing as a whole. It’s about representing my country on the world stage,” Robinson said.
Swimming – Ariarne Titmus | Mollie O’Callaghan | Kaylee McKeown – six gold
Australian swimmers are ranked and in form to win a minimum six gold medals across the nine-night program plus they have strong medal chances in 13 other events.
The minimum six golds slated for Australia in Paris are predominantly anchored by Ariarne Titmus in the 200m and 400m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle relay, Mollie O’Callaghan in the 100m or 200m freestyle and 4x100m relay and Kaylee McKeown in the 100m or 200m backstroke. Titmus, O’Callaghan and McKeown all have three individual events plus the relays so if they all fire it will be game on.
For a full rundown on the swimming medals see the Sportshounds story – Who to watch & who can medal in the Paris pool
Triathlon – Matthew Hauser
Matthew Hauser, 26. For the first time since triathlon debuted at the Sydney 2000 Olympics Australia has a male triathlete in medal contention, plus the chance of a mixed relay medal. World No6 Hauser is both a lead runner and a raider who excels at all three legs – 1500m swim, 40km cycle and 10,000m run.“The boys have to step up,” Hauser, 26, said. “It’s about time, the girls have carried us for long enough. We’re in a position where myself and Luke Willian (world No12) podiumed at a recent world championship series race. I’ve made it my mission since Tokyo to be the next man up. I want to fly the flag and create a new generation of Australian triathletes who can compete with the best in the world. I really want to strive for a medal and I know that on my day I am capable of that.” The 26-year-old bachelor of business graduate is not daunted by the Paris triathlon course which includes running and cycling along the Champs Elysee and swimming in the Seine which is allegedly now sewerage free. “It’s the Olympics, we’ve come too far to be stopped by a little bit of sewerage,” Hauser said
Waterpolo
Matilda (Tilly) Kearns, 23, went to the 2000 Sydney Olympics, where the Australian women’s waterpolo team won gold, as a baby in her Mum’s belly just two weeks before she was born. Twenty-four years later she’s going to Paris to win more gold for Australia as a member of the Stingers. “We are always chasing that Sydney gold medal,” Kearns said. “They achieved what every young Aussie water polo player is aspiring to.” Kearns came to waterpolo from a background in rugby, swimming and netball. “Water polo is a multi-faceted sport – you combine all the elements of those sports and you have water polo,” she said. Plus she has elite sporting genes. Her father Phil played 67 Rugby Tests as hooker during the Wallabies’ most successful era in the 1990s. The Stingers finished fourth at the 2023 world championships and in sixth in Qatar in February this year – lost medal chances that Kearns said was driving the team to the Paris podium. “I want to be on top of that podium. I’m not going to settle for much less than that.”
Matilda Kearns’s path to Paris
Weighlifting – Eileen Cikamatana 81kg
Eileen Cikamatana, 24, was just a kid growing up in the village of Levuka on the Fijian island of Ovalau, when her superior strength made her stand out. The kid who comfortably carted bags of pig feed on her Dad’s farm grew up strong enough to lift an adult pig – over her head. Cikamatana is now the world No3 and a dual Commonwealth Games champion. The Fijian/Australian will compete in the 81kg category at her first Olympics under the coaching guidance of Australian weightlifting royalty Paul and Lilly Coffa. “They saw the potential in me and they have taken me to a higher level,” she said. “The Olympics are my dream. So much sweat and tears in the gym. The medals are what we are training for. My hopes are high.”
Eileen Cikamatana’s path to Paris
Discussion about this post