Chronicle ranks our greatest Olympians
OLYMPICS: Passion, purpose and dedication.
These are the reasons why Toowoomba and its surrounds have been able to produce so many Olympic athletes.
“When you look at our population, it’s safe to say we’re punching above our weight,” Toowoomba Sports Hall of Fame president Tony Conan said.
“It’s incredible the number of Olympians and other fantastic athletes we have been able to produce.
“You could write a thesis on the why and who, but I think it boils down to a few things.
“I think our young athletes mature a little bit quicker, particularly in team sports.
“If they show real promise, they get pushed into competition against adults where they have to learn the tactics of the game, to think a little quicker because they can’t rely on their physical skills alone.
“The other big thing is passion. I think they just want it that little bit more – they live and breathe their sports and that shows when it comes to competition.”
The Chronicle has compiled our own Top 10 list of Toowoomba and the region’s greatest Olympians. In print today we have Olympians 10-6 – if you want to know which athletes we’ve ranked as our five greatest of all time head online to thechronicle.com.au 6. Jared Graves: Graves has ridden bikes on some of the world’s biggest stages but none bigger than the 2008 Olympics when BMX made its debut. Graves was a medal favourite at the event before disaster struck. Leading into the first turn of the final, Graves was involved in a mass crash started by American Donny Robinson when he clipped South African Sifiso Nhlapo. Graves finished sixth after the pileup.
7. Jenni Screen: After making a name for herself in
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the WNBL, Screen played professional basketball in Italy. Screen, who played all her junior basketball in Toowoomba, won silver (2008 Beijing) and bronze (2012 London) at the Olympic Games. 8/9. Emilee Cherry and
Gemma Etheridge: It’s impossible to separate these two rugby stars on our list. Cherry gets the edge only because she has a rugby competition named after her here on the Darling Downs. Both players starred in Australia’s Rugby Sevens gold medal win at the 2016 Rio de Janerio Olympics.
10. Angie Lambert: Another member of our golden hockey generation, Lambert (nee Skirving) played in three Olympic campaigns (2000 gold medal win, 2004, 2008). After debuting at 17, she played 229 games for Australia and scored 49 goals.