The Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics are creeping closer and closer with every single minute. So, to jump on the hype, we’ve created a list on which Aussie athletes you should keep tabs on at this year’s games.
As someone who grew up in a sports-loving household, the Olympics is everything to me. We treat the opening ceremony like it’s the blood moon-landing, the lounge room is fuelled with filipino swear words when the swimming heats happens and when there’s drama, it’s the number one yap-topic in the car drives to work.
But one of my favourite things about the Olympics is that we always get introduced to up and coming athletes from all different walks of life. What’s even more exciting is that this year’s batch of Aussie Olympians have already made history outside of winning a medal — such as being the first athletes to represent Australia in breaking and being the first Indigenous woman to compete in boxing.
So, without further ado, here are some Australian athletes you should keep an eye on at this year’s Paris 2024 Olympics.
Here are 15 Aussie athletes and Para-athletes you need to watch at this year’s Paris 2024 Olympics
15. Jeff ‘J-Attack’ Dunne
Sport: Breaking.
We’ve of course gotta kick off the list with an athlete who will be representing Australia in one of the new sports. Say hello to 16-year-old Jeff Dunne — also known as J-Attack — who will be repping the green and gold in the first-ever Olympics breaking competition.
For folks who are not familiar with what breaking is, it’s a style of dance that stemmed from the US and its thriving hip-hop culture. The style of dance requires a lot of skills, such as acrobatic movements and technical footwork. TLDR: It’s TRICKY! a la RUN-D.M.C.
And of course, dancers must be in beat with the DJ and the master of ceremonies during battle, as per the Australian Olympics website.
Originally born in Davao City, Philippines, Dunne was adopted by an Australian family and grew up in New South Wales’ Casuarina where he took breaking lessons since he was seven.
J-Attack secured his ticket to the Paris 2024 Olympics when he nabbed first place at the Oceania Breaking Championships back in November 2023. Alongside J-Attack, Rachael ‘Raygun’ Gunn will also represent Australia in the first-ever Olympic-breaking comp.
The world is about to get served.
14. Marissa Williamson Pohlman
Sport: Boxing.
Marissa Williamson Pohlman is a multitalented athlete who has made history by becoming the first Indigenous Australian woman boxer to take the boxing ring at the Olympics.
How bloody amazing!
The proud Ngarrindjeri boxer officially secured her spot in the Paris 2024 Olympics after she won gold in the 2023 Pacific Fames in Honiara, Solomon Islands in the 66kg final.
According to the Olympics website, the 22-year-old heavy hitter looked to sports such as Australian Rules Football and boxing after enduring a difficult childhood of foster care and homelessness. Prior to her history-making Olympic qualification, she was on the verge of an AFLW career but chose to knuckle down on boxing once more doors of opportunity opened.
A true trailblazer and we can’t wait to see her take some gold home!
13. Cortnee Vine
Sport: Football.
What would this list be without at least one Matilda?
Cortnee Vine — the striker who won over the nation with her winning penalty shot at the France Vs Australia World Cup quarter-final — will be making her Olympics debut with the team at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The 26-year-old had been playing football since she was five as it was something her brother did as well! And ever since then, she’d been a gun at the sport, playing for a variety of W-Leage clubs such as Brisbane Roar, Newcastle Jets, Western Sydney Wanderers and Sydney FC.
Most recently, Vine was signed to the United States’ National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) and will play for North Carolina Courage. Ugh, we’ll miss her here but a butterfly needs to spread their wings, amirite?
The Matildas’ first Paris 2024 Olympic games will take play on July 26. The beloved team will be taking on Germany at the Stade de Marseille, Marseille.
12. Alexa Leary
Sport: Para-swimming.
You might’ve seen 22-year-old Alexa Leary all over your feed about a week ago for her funny yet captivating post-swim interview where she talked about her journey to the Paris 2024 Paralympics, how her family of seven are heading with her and her love for music!
Leary secured a spot at the Paralympics after nabbing gold in the 100m freestyle S9 at the World Para Swimming Championships.
For folks who don’t know much about Leary’s story, she’d suffered traumatic head injuries in a speed cycling clash that almost claimed her life back in 2021.
“Everyone said goodbye to me. They all thought I was going to pass away. That’s why they call me a miracle. They said I would never walk again and I would never talk again,” Leary revealed in an interview with 9News.
As she bounced back, the triathlete revealed that music played a ‘yuge part in her recovery and that she’d made some banging tunes after she was released from the hospital.
After the Paralympics, I need a mixtape ASAP.
11. Jesse Moore
Sport: Artistic gymnastics.
Jesse Moore was enrolled in gymnastics classes when his parents saw him chuck the splits in the living room at five years old. When I was that age, I was still trying to figure out which shoe went where…
ANYWAYS, the 21-year-old gymnast will be making his Olympic debut at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games where he will represent Australia in the artistic gymnastics comp.
He previously repped the green and gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games at just 19! Moore secured a spot at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games after an “all-around win” at the Men’s Artistic Gymnastics Oceania Continental Championships back in May.
10. Tina Rahimi
Sport: Boxing.
Makeup-artist-turned-boxer secured her spot in the Paris 2024 Olympics after she nabbed a gold medal at the Pacific Games in November 2023.
Similarly to her teammate Marissa Williamson Pohlman, Rahimi made history by becoming Australia’s first Muslim woman to compete in the Olympics.
I may have a bit of bias, but Rahimi is from western Sydney and I just know she’s gonna kick some major ass in the ring!
9. Kaylee McKeown
Sport: Swimming.
Oi mate. I know the Paris 2024 Olympics ain’t her first rodeo, but she is definitely one to watch.
For folks who are not in the know, Kaylee McKeown currently holds the world record for the 200m backstroke, and was recently holding the world record for the 100m backstroke.
In the Paris 2024 Olympics, the Aussie gold medalist will be defending her titles and hopefully, restoring her dominance in the swimming world by holding the record for the 100m backstroke again.
Per 9News, McKeown is hoping to win gold in her backstroke events and the relay.
In McKeown we trust!
8. Arisa Trew
Sport: Skating.
OK, I might be cheating a little here because Arisa Trew has yet to fully be qualified/picked for the Australia Olympic Skating Team, but I believe in her. Here’s why.
The 13-year-old skater teen was the first woman to land a bloody 900.
Peep below to see how bloody hard that is:
If Trew is picked to represent Australia, she will hold another record of being the youngest skateboarded to rep the green and gold. If she wins, she’ll be the youngest Aussie to win an Olympic medal.
When I was 13 I was on MSN. Should’ve skated like Arisa Trew.
7. Vanessa Low
Sport: Para-athletics.
Just like fellow Olympian Kaylee McKeown, this ain’t Vanessa Low‘s first Olympic Games Rodeo. She’s here to win medals and break her own record.
As of writing, the 33-year-old is the world record holder in the women’s long jump T61.
When she was 15, Vanessa was involved in a tragic accident where she stumbled from an overcrowded train platform as it arrived, resulting in the loss of her legs, head and back injuries and multiple broken bones.
Low made her first Paralympic debut for Germany back in 2012 and first represented Australia at the Tokyo Paralympic Games in 2020.
During her run at the 2020 Games, Low broke her own record three times. She’s not one to be played with!!!
6. Ameera Lee
Sport: Para-archery.
Ameera Lee, who lives with multiple sclerosis, is gonna heat things up this year’s Paris 2024 Paralympics which will be her first Summer Games ever!
The 50-year-old athlete first began her Para-archery journey back in 2016 and officially made her debut at the 2018 Para-archery European Circuit.
Last year, Lee locked in her dreams of representing the green and gold at the Paris 2024 Paralympics where she secured a quota spot for the games!
She’s now aiming for the podium and I am manifesting this for her!
5. Ethan Ewing
Sport: Surfing.
One of the new sports to debut at the Paris 2024 Olympics is surfing. Naturally, Australia is pulling up all the surfers for this amazing opportunity!
Repping Australia in the Paris 2024 Olympics surf comp is 25-year-old Brizzy surfer Ethan Ewing.
Although you’d think surfing is an easy breezy sport — unless you watched Blue Water High like every other Aussie kiddo who grew up in the 2000s — Ewing received death threats in 2023 after he beat Brazillian surfer Gabriel Medina in the quarter-finals of the WSL’s Surf Ranch Pro.
Medina accused the judges of discrimination which led to the devastating influx of hate.
After recovering from a back injury, which shortly happened after the WSL controversy, Ewing bounced back and ended 2023 as Australia’s highest-ranking surfer boi.
Fun-fact: Ewing’s mother Helen Lambert won the Rip Curl Pro title in 1983 when she was only 18.
… Now I have the sudden urge to watch Surf’s Up. BRB.
4. The entire Australian Women’s relay team
Sport: 4×100 relay.
Yes, yes. I could easily write in every single subheading “surfing team”, “skating team” and “the whole of Australia” — but I do want to take a moment to highlight this quartet!
The 4×100 Aussie women’s relay team — made up of Torrie Lewis, Ebony Lane, Bree Masters and Ella Connolly — managed to secure a quota spot after clocking a 42.83 finish at the World Athletic Relays in May.
What makes this even more exciting is that Australia hasn’t competed in the 4×100 relay since the Sydney 2000 Olympics. I was literally like, 11-months-old!
Kudos to the relay team!
3. Rachael ‘Raygun’ Gunn
Sport: Breaking.
Macquarie Uni lecturer Rachael Gunn will be serving up some straight-up heat at the Paris 2024 Olympics’ dancefloor in the highly-anticipated breaking competition.
Alongside J-Attack, Raygun secured a ticket to the Olympics after coming first in the Oceania Breaking Championships last year.
Reflecting on this exciting opportunity, the media and communications academic shared that she never was a sporty kid and that the Olympics didn’t seem like an option for her.
“I wasn’t a sporty kid, I was more of a dance kid,” the B-girl said.
“I never thought the Olympics would be on the cards for me. It’s such a privilege and it’s hugely exciting.”
What makes her story even more inspirational is that she didn’t start breaking comps until her mid-twenties. So if you’re looking to bust a move and potentially win a medal for it, here’s your chance!
2. Noemie Fox
Sport: Kayak cross.
Noemie Fox is one of the latest Aussie athletes to secure a spot at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The 27-year-old nabbed a quota spot over the weekend after nabbing a silver medal at the Canoe Slalom World Cup in Prague!
Noemie will be joining her sister Jessica Fox — a four-time Olympic medalist and eight-time individual world champion as reported by ABC News — who’s also competing in the green and gold at the Paris Games.
What makes her qualification into the Olympics even more heartwarming is that her whole family are award-winning paddlers. Fox’s father, Richard Fox, won a bronze medal at the 1992 Olympics and their mother Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi, also nabbed a bronze medal in the 1996 Olympic Games.
1. Campbell Harrison
Sport: Sports climbing.
Campbell Harrison will finally have his turn at nabbing a gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics!
You see, the 26-year-old was supposed to gun for a podium spot in the Tokyo Olympics back in 2020. However, due to COVID-19 and his sister’s breast cancer diagnosis, he was unable to attend.
But as the world slowly came back, Harrison continued to persevere in his craft of sports climbing and consistently won titles in the sport.
In his quest for the gold medal, Harrison hopes to become an example to other LGBTQIA+ athletes.
“Competing as a queer athlete, I always hope that I can show other young queer climbers that being gay doesn’t have to be a barrier to participation in sport, but we can also be the best if we set our mind to it,” he shared.
Look as a journalist, it’s my job to yap, yap and yap. So this list being condensed into just 15 people killed me.
BUT If you’d like to know more, PEDESTRIAN.TV will be rolling out some extra juicy content throughout the whole Paris 2024 Summer Olympics.
Keep us bookmarked if you want the Olympic tea!
The Paris 2024 Olympics will be available to watch on Channel 9 on 9Now.
