From 26 July to 11 August, 460 athletes will represent Australia in 33 sports at the .
It is the sixth Olympics for five athletes, while 231 will be making their debut.
The 2024 team also has its biggest percentage of women in history, with 256 athletes (55.6 per cent) being female. There are 10 Indigenous athletes representing Australia.
From long-term stars to fan favourites and up-and-comers, here are some key athletes to watch in Paris.
Swimming
It’s no secret that swimming is Australia’s most successful Olympic sport.
Emma McKeon is not only Australia’s most decorated Olympic swimmer but the most successful Australian Olympian of all time. At the Tokyo 2020 Games, she won four gold and three bronze medals. In Paris, she will compete individually in the 100m butterfly and relays.
Five years after being banned from the sport after unknowingly ingesting a prohibited substance, many eyes will be on Shayna Jack, who will be representing Australia for her first Olympics.
Shayna Jack has qualified to represent Australia at her first Olympic Games in Paris. Source: AAP / Darren England
Jack has earned coveted places in the 50m and 100m individual freestyle, and will also be part of relay teams.
Other swimming stars to watch include Kyle Chalmers, Kaylee McKeown, Mollie O’Callaghan and Ariarne Titmus, who set a world record in the 200m freestyle at the Olympic trials.
Athletics
75 athletes have been selected to represent Australia in Paris, in what will be the country’s second-largest contingent ever (behind the Sydney 2000 Games).
In running events, 1,500m competitor Jess Hull is in top form after breaking the Oceanian and Australian record at the Paris Diamond League athletics event on Monday and taking home the silver medal.
Peter Bol will again compete in the 800m after narrowly missing out on a medal at the Tokyo Olympics when he finished in fourth place.
High jumper Nicola Olyslagers (formerly Nicola McDermott), who took home silver in the Tokyo Olympics, will again compete in the high jump and has been in promising form in 2023 and 2024.
In the pole vault, Nina Kennedy, who won gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and 2023 World Athletics Championships (in a tie) could be a medal contender.
Football
The Matildas have become some of Australia’s most popular athletes since the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
While striker and usual captain Sam Kerr will miss the Olympics due to a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Steph Catley will instead captain the side, with Emily van Egmond as vice-captain.
In both the 2023 World Cup and the Tokyo Olympics, the Matildas finished in fourth place, , they will be striving to make it onto the podium.
In the men’s competition, participation is restricted to under-23 players, meaning athletes must be born on or after 1 January 2001. Australia did not qualify for the 2024 Olympics.
Diving
Melissa Wu is the most experienced diver in Australia’s team, and Paris will be her fifth Olympics. She first competed at the Olympics at just 16 years old in 2008, when she won a silver medal in the 10m synchronised diving.
She has won more than 60 medals since her international debut, and at the last Olympics, she won bronze in the 10m platform diving.
In the men’s competition, Cassiel Rousseau is one to watch. He made his Olympic debut in Tokyo, qualifying for the final and finishing in eighth place.
He won gold in the men’s 10m individual at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and bronze in both the 10m men’s synchronised and 10m mixed synchronised. At the 2023 World Championships, he won gold in the 10m platform.
Basketball
At the Tokyo Olympics, the Australian men’s basketball team, the Boomers, won a bronze medal for the first time. The women’s team, the Opals, have won silver and bronze medals in several Olympics tournaments but were knocked out in the quarter-finals in Tokyo, and will be eager to improve on this performance.
Three of Australia’s basketballers will be competing in their fifth Olympics tournament: Patty Mills and Joe Ingles from the men’s team, and Lauren Jackson — who retired in 2016 then returned to the sport in 2022 — in the women’s team.
Joe Ingles, Lauren Jackson and Patty Mills have all qualified for their fifth Olympics. Source: AAP / James Ross
Beach volleyball
At the Tokyo Olympics, duo Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy took home the silver medal and became fan favourites.
They have reached the podium together 21 times, including at the Commonwealth Games, the Asian Women’s Championship and the Osaka Open.
Boxing
There are several exciting athletes to watch in the boxing events.
Tina Rahimi is Australia’s first female Muslim Olympic boxer. She won bronze in the featherweight division at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, and will be making her Olympics debut in Paris.
Harry Garside became a household name during the Tokyo Olympics when he took home bronze in the men’s light division, and in 2024 he is striving to go even further.
Canoe
Jessica Fox has dominated the canoe slalom for years. In Tokyo, she won gold in the Canoe Slalom Women’s Canoe Single (WC1) and bronze in the Canoe Slalom Women’s K-1. She has won 22 World Championship medals, including 10 world titles, four team gold and 11 overall individual World Cup titles.
In 2024, her sister Noemie Fox, who won silver at the Canoe Slalom World Cup 2024, will make her Olympics debut.
Who are Australia’s youngest and oldest athletes?
Australia’s youngest Olympian is Arisa Trew at just 14 years old. Trew is competing in the skateboarding park event.
The oldest is 51-year-old Shane Rose, who will compete in equestrian.
The 2024 Paris Olympics will start on 26 July local time (27 July AEST).
