THE OLYMPIC’S GENERATION NEXT READY TO DEFY AGE
They are young, keen and ready to steal hardware, Amanda Lulham writes
ANDREW Hoy is heading to a record eighth Olympic, but there are an incredible 295 young Australians making their Games debut in the strangest ever Olympics.
And in this number are some of the most talented and engaging teenagers in world sport. The Olympic arena has long been a launching pad for success, with Penrith’s whitewater guru Jessica Fox making her Olympic debut as a teen and now chasing a pair of gold medals. Central Coast footballer Ellie Carpenter was only 16 when she played for the Matildas in Rio and is now an established member of an Australian women’s football team chasing a medal in Japan.
Here we look at some of the new young guns hoping to fire on the biggest sporting stage in the world.
MARY FOWLER, 18, MATILDAS FOOTBALL
Just 18, but there will be an avalanche of interest in this footballer from Bankstown in Sydney’s west.
She’s an extraordinary athlete already playing alongside some of the biggest football names in the world, including Sam Kerr, Kyah Simon, Caitlin Foord and Alanna Kennedy.
Fowler, who plays for Montpellier in France, will be the youngest member of the Matildas in Tokyo. She scored her debut international goal for Australia against Denmark in June.
“As a kid it’s the one dream I had in sport, so it feels amazing,” Fowler said of her Olympic selection.
The young footballer admitted she was quite emotional when she heard the news she was to be at the Games.
“When I was told and handed the piece of paper saying I’m going, everything just clicked and I was like, well, this is really happening, then I just started tearing up,” she said.
TIA HINDS, 19, RUGBY SEVENS
A teen sensation picked for the Australians Sevens rugby team with an eye to the future.
Haynes was one of those kids who was good at just about every sport she put her mind to.
This 19-year-old speedster played touch football from an early age, tackled Aussie rules with the Maroubra Saints when she was nine and was also a member of the Maroubra Magic Rugby Sevens side. She also played rugby league, hitting the field for the Cronulla Sharks in the Tarsha Gale competition.
It’s not a great surprise she is so talented with mum Janine a touch footballer for Australia.
Hinds played for Sydney University in the recent AON sevens series and hails from the renowned Randwick rugby club.
SARIAH PAKI, 19, RUGBY SEVENS
Paki has long been recognised as one of the next big things in Australian women’s rugby and was inspired to play by the women who sensationally won in Rio, where the sport debuted.
Paki, from Sydney’s northern beaches, proved she has the goods in pressure situations after becoming one of the youngest players to compete for Australia in the world Rugby Sevens tournament when just
17. And at that event she was one of the best forwards.
“I wanted to be an
Olympian ever since I saw the girls play in Rio,” Paki said. “I couldn’t believe they were there, it was incredible. I was about 15. Look at me now. Who would believe it. Wow.”
JOSH GREEN, 20, BASKETBALL
He is one of seven debutants in the Boomers with Tokyo a big opportunity for this big young talent from Glenhaven in the Hills District of Sydney.
A talented shooting guard, Green is playing NBA with the Dallas Mavericks and was the No.18 pick in the 2020 draft.
He is an important cog in the Boomers bid for a medal in Tokyo and the youngest member of a starstudded team considered a genuine chance of a medal in Japan.
AMY LAWTON, 19, HOCKEY
From Emerald in Victoria, this 19year-old is the baby of the Hockeyroos and is being earmarked for great things. Lawton is the fourth youngest Hockeyroo ever to play at an Olympic Games and is the daughter of two world class squash players.
A young midfielder, her rise has been quick with the teen considered one of the most talented youngsters in the world game.
ELLIE BEER, 18, ATHLETICS
This Queenslander from Palm Beach found out about her Olympic selection while working in a takeaway food shop.
She will run in the 4x400m relay in Tokyo with Bendere Oboya, Angie Blackburn, Kendra Hubbard and Annelise Rubie-Renshaw.
Just a year out of school, she also competed at the 2019 world championships with the relay team, chasing a spot in their final in Japan.
SAM FRICKER, 19, DIVING
From Greenhills Beach in the Sutherland Shire, Fricker has long been identified as a star of the future.
Fricker tells a tale of getting into the sport because he was trying to impress a girl he had a crush on.
Raised at Merewether in Newcastle before relocating to Sydney’s south, Fricker showed attitude and flair for sport and success followed.
While in his teens, he will compete in the 10m platform event in Tokyo with his journey to be watched with interest by his 450,000 plus TikTok followers. “Ever since I was a kid I can just remember having a dream of making the Olympic team,” he said.
Fricker is also a keen entrepreneur with a line of environmentally friendly straws.
COURTNEY NEVINS, 19, FOOTBALL
Nevins is another teenage member of a Matildas side which is clearly investing in a very bright future.
This 19-year-old honed her skills with the Blacktown Spartans and plays for the Western Sydney Wanderers in the WLeague.
She was called into the Matildas back in 2019 and has been turning heads since.
MOLLIE O’CALLAHAN, 17, SWIMMING
From Greenbank in Queensland, O’Callahan is in Tokyo doing a sport she didn’t like when she was a kid.
That changed in her teens when she started to show plenty of promise. She is racing relay events in Tokyo.
KEIRA GAZZARD, 19, ARTISTIC SWIMMING
Gazzard is an artistic swimmer from Randwick, who is heading to her first Olympics as part of the Australian artistic swimming team.
At 19 she is one of the youngest in her squad and will compete in the teams event in Tokyo.
The goal of Gazzard and her teammates in Tokyo is to improve on their world No.10 ranking and to win over new fans to the sport, which was formerly know as synchronised swimming.
Despite being so young, Gazzard has already given up much for her sport, moving away from her home, family and friends in Sydney to train on the Gold Coast in the lead up to her selection.
“This is a lifetime dream of mine,” Gazzard said of her Olympic spot.
“I vividly remember watching the Beijing Olympics when I was seven and saying to my mum ‘I want to go to the Olympics. I’m so excited to be going.’’
DIETRICH ROACHE, 20, RUGBY SEVENS
Only just 20, this speedster from Merrylands, in Sydney’s west, has pretty much come from nowhere to force his way onto the team playing in Tokyo.
He comes from great rugby heritage with his father Krueger a former Two Blues player and now coach of the Colts team at the western Sydney club. But Roache didn’t have a lot of interest in sport until quite recently.
He originally played rugby league at his Fairfield school before trying his hand at rugby union with the Two Blues. When he got into Rugby Sevens in 2018 he fell in love and just two years later was named in the Australian side for the world schools sevens tournament. The rest is history.
Roach is one of 10 young players making their debut in the Olympic sevens side, which includes form e r Wallaby Samu Kerevi and also speedster Maurice Longbottom from the Randwick rugby club.