Paris Olympics 2024.
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games will showcase 3,800 hours of live sport and award 329 gold medals in 32 sports over 18 days of competition in the 34th Summer Olympics – the opening ceremony on Friday the 26th of July was the official start the Olympics. Two current ECU students representing Australia in Hockey, have both won their first matches as members of two of Australia's most successful teams, with a proud Olympic history of 13 medals. Recent ECU Alumna will be representing South Africa in the relatively new addition to the Olympics, 'sport climbing'.
Hockeyroo Brooke Peris is an ECU Bachelor of Social Work student and proudly co-captained the Olympic team to their first victory in a game described at 'gritty and hard-fought' in 2-1 with over a competitive South Africa.
Kookaburra star striker Ky Willott is studying his Bachelor of Science in Paramedicine at ECU and was part of a hard-fought 1-0 win over Argentina in their first game.
ECU Bachelor of Science Alumna Lauren Mukheibir has been training in Australia for her Olympic climb, where competition starts on 5 August.
ECU's Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Sport) Professor Sophia Nimphius said it was thrilling to see ECU students and alumni at the Olympics, having successfully balanced their studies with training. This achievement highlights that combining study and sport is a winning formula.
Professor Nimphius explained while it might seem counterintuitive for athletes to pursue higher education alongside demanding training schedules, research supports that this dual career approach provides significant benefits during and after their athletic careers.
"This dual commitment is not without its challenges. That's why ECU is a committed member of the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Elite Athlete Education Network (EAEN), helping to overcome barriers in their dual career pursuits. Seeing students and alumni like Brooke, Ky, and Lauren succeed on the world stage underscores the importance of ECU’s continued support for elite athletes balancing sport and study."
Get behind our ECU heroes and see links to the full schedules below to follow the games.
Olympic debut in fittest team in the world
Selected in the 2022 Kookaburras Squad, Ky has described the team as "the fittest in the world" and he's super proud to be part of. Ky won the Hockey One League with NSW Pride and scored his maiden international goal against Malaysia in 2022. He was the recipient of the 2019 Basil Sellers Scholarship at the Hockey NSW Awards Night and is now gunning for it in his first Olympics in Paris.
The Australia men's national field hockey team is one of the nation's most successful top-level sporting teams. They are the only Australian team in any sport to receive medals at six straight Summer Olympic Games (1992–2012). The Kookaburras placed in the top four in every Olympics between 1980 and 2012 and placing sixth in 2016. The Kookaburras have won the Hockey World Cup in 1986, 2010 and 2014.
Kookaburra Ky Willott in action.
Three-time Olympian most capped Indigenous player in Australian hockey
Brooke Peris notched up her 200th Hockeyroos appearance this year, the milestone making her the most capped Indigenous player in Australian hockey and marking a decade of excellence with the team.
Brooke's grandmother was born at Moola Bulla Station in WA and is Kidiji Women. Her Grandfather was born in Broome and is a Jaru Man. Brooke is a member of the Ngarrawanji Native. She is also the first cousin of former Hockeyroo and former Australian senator Nova Peris, the first Aboriginal Australian to win an Olympic gold medal, at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
This will be Brooke's third Olympics, and she is immensely proud to represent Australia. She said playing at the Rio Olympics in 2016 was a big moment and a time in her life that brought together a lot of the lessons handed down from her grandparents.
"I looked up and saw them waving the Indigenous flag. I've never felt so proud," said Brooke.
A bit of an all-arounder, Brooke was awarded the title of "Northern Territory Sportsperson of the Year" in 2014 for her natural leadership.
Hockeyroo Brooke Peris in full swing.
Climbing to new heights – can we claim we launched her here?
All best wishes also go out to ECU Bachelor of Science Alumna Lauren Mukheibir who will be cranking it for South Africa in the relatively new Olympic sport of climbing.
With a Speed event and a combined Boulder & Lead event in Paris, the total number of medal events for Sport Climbing has doubled from two at the Tokyo Games, to four in Paris.
Lauren said she is feeling fantastic after training in Australia for the whole while she's been studying.
"I've just finished my degree, and now this! I just feel phenomenal! I’m going to Paris. I still can't believe it!" said Lauren.
"My parents were here, my godfather was here, pretty much the whole team from my gym in Johannesburg, they have all had my back since day one. I'm so happy that they were here to witness this."
Paris 2024 Olympics - Latest News, Schedules & Results
Watch the hockey
Finals start on 4 August (after 10 pool games across 8 days before – all times in AEST:
- Hockeyroos vs. Great Britain, July 30, 1.00am – 2022 Birmingham Comm Games gold medal re-match
- Kookaburras vs. Belgium, July 31, 4.45am - Tokyo 2020 Gold Medal re-match
- Hockeyroos vs. Argentina, August 2, 5.15am – World No. 4 v World No. 2
- Kookaburras vs. New Zealand, August 1, 7.30pm – A classic Trans-Tasman clash acts as a double-header to the Hockeyroos v Argentina on Aug 1
Watch the climbing
Climbing starts on Monday, 5 August (UTC+2:00):
Official website of the International Federation of Sport Climbing. (ifsc-climbing.org)
PS: When are the 100m finals?
The women's 100m final will be held at 20:20 BST on Saturday, 3 August, and a little over 24 hours later, at 20:50 BST on 4 August, it will be the men's 100m final. Both will take place at the Stade de France, where all the track and field events are being held.
May the games begin...! #AllezAUS
