Article by Courtney Walsh, courtesy of Fox Sports.
When it comes to Australia’s stunning success in Paris, 32 is the magic number that affirms a major change in the way our champion women are coached.
At an Olympics where Australia finished fourth overall, produced our best Games away from home shores in track and field, almost knocked off the USA in the pool and swept the canoe slalom and skate boarding, the nation’s women’s have led from the front.
After champion cyclist Grace Brown set the tone with a gold in the time trial on day one, women went on to win 13 of Australia’s 18 gold medals in Paris and 32 of the 53 medals overall across a range of individual and team sports.
As Australian Opal Sara Blicavs, a Tokyo Olympian in 2021, said on Sunday: “Yay, the girls!”
And behind the big results have been some big shifts.
Matti Clements, the executive general manager of high performance at the Australian Institute of Sport, identified a focus on coaching the individual as a facet critical in Paris, saying it had enhanced the prospects of some of our world-beating athletes.
“One of the things I think that Australia has done really well in recent years is we have had a focus on female athlete health. We are internationally recognised for that,” she told foxsports.com.au from Paris.
“Why is that important? In actual fact, most research in high performance sports is done on a male population and what has historically been done all around the world, and in Australia, has been that we’ll use that research and assume that females are just another version of a male athlete, so therefore it is relevant.
“Even when I say that, it sounds completely illogical, and it’s not right, and what we’ve done is have a focus on what is required to be a female athlete, what is required in terms of training and health, and we’ve had an increased focus on that and it is paying off.
“It is about focusing on the athlete who is in front of us, rather than coach to what we know as a broader group. So coaching individuals, not just trying … to fit everyone into a coaching medal that works for the coach. It is athlete focused.”
Dual Olympic gold medallist Leisel Jones said one of the biggest improvements in Australia’s success in Paris compared to recent Olympics was the ability of our women to turn what were usually podium performances into the gold medal efforts most treasured.
“I think what has happened is that they have really stepped up from silver and bronzes into those gold medal positions, which we haven’t really successfully done in the past,” she said on the ABC program Offsiders.
“I think that has been the difference in these Games. It has been great.”
A SPECIALIST APPROACH TO THE INDIVIDUAL
Theories abound regarding Australia’s success in the Olympics, with our fourth placing on the medal table astonishing on a per capita basis when compared to the USA and China, with Japan pipping the Aussies for a place on the podium with successes on the final day.
Much is made of our good weather. Swimming outside in the middle of winter? Up north, why not? Tennis and golf can be played all year round. The skate parks are always open as well, so too the BMX tracks. Australians can pursue every sport at the Olympics all year round.
Opportunity abounds from a young age. Funding is also a factor, be it from the Federal Government or the Bank of Gina Rinehart.
But far more goes into turning a talent into a world beater and the one percenters matter. It is here a specialised Australian focus paid off.
Early in the Olympics, the chatter turned to how Dean Boxall, the swimming coach whose celebrations after successes have drawn great attention, would handle a conflict of interest.
Pitted against each other in the women’s 200m freestyle were Ariarne Titmus and Mollie O’Callaghan. It was challenging in perception but, in reality, there was no conflict at all. It is an example of the individualised approach to coaching Clements has identified.
The pair are coached by Boxall, but train in different groups. O’Callaghan, who clinched the gold, works with the sprinters, while Titmus, who struck silver, trains with distance swimmers.
Each received their instructions and set off to swim their own race, in the process clinching a remarkable 1-2 finish.
OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS
Opportunity matters as well. Australia’s stars have repeatedly referred to the importance of being able to look up and see other women succeeding on the world stage as kids.
As Jess Hull said after her superb silver medal winning run in the 1500m on Sunday: “You can’t be what you can’t see.”
Chef de Mission Anna Meares, who received a ringing endorsement for her stewardship in Paris from Australian Olympics Committee president Ian Chesterman, emphasised this.
While defending “Raygun” against the social media critiques she received for her breaking performance, the dual-Olympic gold medallist highlighted how far Australia has come.
“You look at the history of what … women athletes have faced in terms of criticism, belittlement, judgement, criticism and simple comments like they shouldn’t be there,” she said.
“One hundred years ago, leading into Paris in 1924, Australia sent a team of 37 athletes and none of them were women. One hundred years later, we have 256 women represented here.”
THIS GENERATION’S FREEMANS AND THORPES
Golfer Jason Day was inspired by Cathy Freeman and Ian Thorpe and long jumper Brooke Buschkuehl tried to follow the example of hurdler Sally Pearson as a teenager.
When considering your heroes, young athletes do not need to stay in their lanes, so to speak. The broader the brush of inspiration, the better, Meares said in her final address. There were heroes everywhere in Paris and several men performed superbly as well.
Cam McEvoy inspires for his resilience and revolutionary approach. Matt Wearn rebounded from his sick bed to defend a gold medal. Matt Ebden and John Peers won gold aged 36. Keegan Palmer is a double gold-medallist aged just 21. And the individual pursuit team are world record holders as well as being gold medallists.
Kyle Chalmers did not win a gold, but was magnificent again in the pool. Matt Richardson and Matthew Glaetzer were the final medallists for Australia when finishing on the podium in the Kierin on Sunday. There were inspirational performances across the board.
“We have always talked about the Cathy Freeman effect,” Meares said.
“Now we have the Jess Fox effect, the Emma McKeon effect, the Ariarne Titmus effect, the Cameron McEvoy effect, the Saya Sakakibara effect, the Keegan Palmer effect, the Arisa Trew effect, the Stingers effect, the Opals effect, the Harry Garside effect. The sky, really, is the limit.”
Clements noted how important it was for young Australians in non-traditional Olympic sports to see the success of Trew, Palmer and Sakakibara, while Jack Robinson surfed to a silver medal with skill and bravery in Tahiti.
All have become Australian icons in sports they were introduced to as kids. Heck, Trew still is one aged 14 and Palmer would still be IDd when hitting up a bar in the US.
The broader the pool of sports – and we are not just talking about swimming, despite the Dolphins dominance overall – from which champions can emerge, the better.
“It is an infectious thing that you’re seeing those sports at the Olympic Games,” Clements said.
“People who have partaken in those sports (as kids) but have thought, ‘Oh. That’s good. It’s great. I really enjoy it, but it has no elite pathway’.
“Well, now we know that there are elite pathways. There is skateboarding. There is BMX. The kids on the Gold Coast in skate parks can imagine being an Olympian and actually becoming a gold medallist. That’s pretty cool.
“So I think what we’ll see is more young athletes who like to kick around on the weekend doing some cool stuff, and that is fantastic, because kids should enjoy their sport. And for those who have got some talent, ‘Hey, there’s another pathway’.
“But, most importantly, ‘I’m enjoying my sport and I’m seeing some cool role models inspire me to keep going with sports’, because whether you reach an elite level or not, sport is a good thing for a kid to do.”
It is point iconic Olympian Kieren Perkins, who is now the Australian Sports Commission chief executive, made as well.
“From the heartwarming scenes involving the Fox sisters to the heroic performances in the pool, to Saya Sakakibara’s dominant in the BMX, Paris will live on in the memories of all Australians,” he said.
“Some of the best performances in Paris came from emerging sports such as skateboarding and BMX, which is pleasing to see as we broaden the base of medal winning sports.”
THE MVPs FROM PARIS
Over a remarkable fortnight in France, there were highpoints across the country, none better than the record-breaking day when Australia clinched four gold and two bronze medals.
In the Matty and the Missile in Paris podcast, dual-World Champion Magnussen identified McKeown, who won two golds and a bronze, as his MVP in the swimming pool. But he reiterated that no moment mattered more than Titmus’s triumph to start the Games.
“She was up against Katie Ledecky, who is the GOAT of women’s swimming … and Summer McIntosh, the 17-year-old who won three gold medals at this Olympics and is potentially the future GOAT of the sport,” he said.
“Ariarne superseded both of them in that event and I was just so happy for her, to back up the Tokyo Olympics. There was a lot of pressure on her and boy, did she deliver.”
Clements, who told foxsports.com.au the phone calls she received from her kids back in Australia were tinged with envy when she explained where she had been each day, opted for the Foxes.
She had spoken to Jess Fox, who is now a three-time Olympic gold medallist and newly-elected IOC committee member, as the Opals tackled the United States in a semifinal in France on Friday and could not be more impressed with the 30-year-old as a role model.
“You can’t go past Jess Fox, can you? Jess and the Fox family. You can’t go past a family like that,” she said.
“They are obviously high achievers in sports but just fundamentally, they are fantastic human beings who are respectful, professional, have humility, are smart.
“What they’ve done – and I think with Noemie’s gold, you saw Jess’s reaction – just with how they work together and respect one another and inspire one another as a family, I’d say that’s one hell of a legacy they’ve left.”
For Jones, a nine-time Olympic gold medallist, the emotional scene at the BMX track after Sakakibara’s triumph is a memory she and other Australians will long remember.
“Saya … for me was just a standout performance, because she had had concussions before which could have been debilitating (and) her brother Kye also had an accident which took him out of the sport,” she said on the ABC.
“So to be so dominant … and to be able to come back and win gold is just legend status, for me. It is my gold medal of the Games.
“I could not get past it, the heartfelt moment and the scream at the end, you could tell that was a guttural scream of pure joy and elation. I can’t beat it.”
RAYGUN RAZZES IT UP WITH THE PARALYMPIANS PRIMED TO PERFORM
With the Olympics completed in Paris, “Raygun” was razzing and the rest of the Aussie contingent left in the French capital were heading to bars and nightclubs.
The Australians will be on chartered flights out of France from late on Monday night and will receive a heroes welcome home to their various states around the country when they land on Wednesday.
It will by the Paralympians turn to shine in Paris in a fortnight and, similarly to the Olympics, there are plenty of Australians capable of contending for gold in 2024.
With a view to future Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028 and on home soil in 2032, Clements pointed to the fact that several of the nation’s golden performers in Paris will be reaching or still at their peak as a reason for optimism.
It is now almost 20 months since Australia’s peak Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games organisations joined forces for an initiative branded Win Well that is targetted towards enjoying success in 2032 in Brisbane and beyond.
Clements believes the nation is already seeing the fruits of the combined commitment – an initiative that balances ambitious sporting goals with cultures that are fair, safe and supportive – based on the performances in Paris.
“We’ve all stood behind that and I think the results here are a reflection and a credit to a system that puts self-interest aside and has gone, ‘We’re going to stand behind one thing, because that’s when we’re going to be the most powerful, when we work as Australia’” she said.
“I actually think that is something we need to keep reminding ourselves of, how powerful that has been, and to make sure we don’t deviate from that system. And I hope the Australian public is incredibly proud of what we have done over here.
“It is the best ever Games, but it isn’t by chance that we have had the best ever Games. That’s from sheer determination and being committed to one goal, to ‘Win Well’ and inspire Australians.”
