The Paris 2024 Olympic Games will go down in history as Australia’s most successful games to date, finishing with 18 gold, 19 silver and 16 bronze, bringing our total to 53 medals. South Australian athletes did us proud contributing to this success. They triumphed not only with medal wins but with inspirational performances, graciousness in victory and defeat, and an outstanding display of teamwork and the Aussie spirit!

Amongst the finalised Australian team, 46 are either from South Australia or trained in SA during this Olympic cycle. 37 of the athletes selected are South Australian Sports Institute (SASI) scholarship holders or graduates, who have been supported by SASI’s funding programs, elite performance services and daily training environments. So how did we do...?

Athletics

Jess Stenson took to the sizzling streets of Paris in the Women’s Marathon, leading at the halfway mark alongside fellow Australian Genevieve Gregson. Stenson finished in 13^th place, producing the second fastest time for an Australian in Olympic history.

Kurtis Marschall lined up against the world’s best in the Men’s Pole Vault final where he finished 6^th – a strong result on his road to recovery from an ankle injury.

Izzi Batt-Doyle finished 9^th overall in the Women’s 5000m heats, painstakingly close to qualifying for a finals entry.

The conditions were brutal during the Women’s 20km Race Walk, with Olivia Sandery not managing to finish the event despite a valiant effort.

In the Men’s 3000m Steeplechase, Matthew Clarke was battling a nasty virus that rendered him in need of medical attention post-race. Clarke managed to finish the race in brave fashion.

Basketball

The Opals ended up with a bronze, winning 81-85 over Belgium in an absolute thriller. Isobel Borlase, Cayla George, Tess Madgen, and Stephanie Talbot all played key roles in the Australian team’s return to the podium, with their first Olympic medal win since London 2012.

Joe Ingles and the Boomers managed to make it to the quarter finals, but ultimately fell short against the ominous Serbian squad in a tense game that ended 90-95.

Lauren Mansfield and Alex Wilson had a strong 4-3 run through the pool rounds of the Women’s 3x3, but lost Canada during the play-in game with a scoreline of 10-21. Their efforts earned them 5^th place overall.

Beach Volleyball

Thomas Hodges and Zachary Schubert finished 17^th overall where the highlight of their Paris campaign was a 2-0 win over France in front of an electric crowd.

After securing an additional qualification for an Australian men’s team, Mark Nicolaidis and Izac Carracher finished 19^th overall.

Boxing

Callum Peters was on fire in the Men’s 80kg round of 16, but in a split decision was denied victory against reigning world champion Nurbek Oralbay.

Cycling

Sam Welsford, Kelland O’Brien, Conor Leahy, and Oliver Bleddyn etched themselves in history with a gold medal in the Men’s Team Pursuit, forming part of Australia’s most successful Olympic day in history. In their first round event prior to this they set a new world record.

Welsford and O’Brien teamed up once again to compete in the Men’s Madison finishing 12^th overall and Welsford added another Olympic event to his name to take out 14^th place in the Men’s Omnium.

Four-time Olympian Matthew Glaetzer won bronze in the Men’s Keirin at his final Olympic Games, and he shared the podium with SA based Matthew Richardson who claimed silver.

Glaetzer, Richardson and Olympic debutant Leigh Hoffman won bronze in the Men’s Team Sprint over France.

Richardson added to his medal collection with a silver in the Men’s Sprint final, while Hoffman placed 10^th in this event.

In the Women’s Team Pursuit Sophie Edwards, Chloe Moran, Maeve Plouffe and Georgia Baker combined in qualifying to ride 4:08.612 which broke the national record by more than one second. Alex Manly came into the quartet in place of Moran in the finals bracket for 7^th and 8^th to defeat Canada and finish 7^th overall.

Baker and Manly lined up in the Women’s Madison final, finishing 9^th overall and just a single point shy of New Zealand.

Baker also stepped up to the challenge of the Women’s Omnium, coming home in an impressive 5^th overall.

Kristina Klonan never gave up in the Women’s Keirin, making her way to the quarter finals through a strong performance in the repechages. She finished 16^th overall, with fellow Australian rider Moran in 23^rd.

Klonan continued her time on the track in the Women’s Sprint, finishing 12^th overall.

Diving

Jaxon Bowshire had an impressive Olympic debut in the Men’s 10m Platform, making his way to the semi-finals to finish 16^th overall.

Gymnastics

Jesse Moore made his Olympic debut, showing promise in the qualifiers to secure a place in the All-Around Individual Artistic Gymnastics Final. This made him the first Australian to qualify for the Olympic final since London 2012. He finished 21^st with a score of 80.43.

Hockey

The Hockeyroos were denied Olympic glory in a loss to China in the quarter finals despite being undefeated in all previous matches – they finished 5^th overall. Captain Jane Claxton announced this would be her final Olympics, while Hattie Shand made her Olympic debut.

Tom Wickham didn’t miss a game for the Kookaburras who managed a 3-2 record in the pool games but were also defeated in the quarter finals, falling to the Netherlands 2-0.

Rowing

Molly Goodman and Olympia Aldersey finished 3^rd in the Women’s Four B final, but the highly competitive times in the A Final placed them 9^th overall.

Angus Dawson and his team came 6^th in the Men’s Eight final, while Alex Hill also finished 6^th in the Men’s Four final.

Shooting

Jack Rossiter and Dane Sampson lined up for the 10m Air Rifle and 50m Air Rifle 3 Positions events.

Jack achieved the highest Australian result in the 10m Air Rifle at 16^th with a score of 628.5, while Dane finished 30^th in the same event with a score of 626.9.

In the 50m Air Rifle 3 Position event, Jack and Dane finished 27^th and 34^th respectively.

Swimming

Meg Harris had an amazing Paris campaign, anchoring the Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay team to a gold medal and produced a personal best in the 50m freestyle to come away with silver.

Kyle Chalmers cemented his legacy as Australia’s greatest male freestyle sprinter, winning silver in the 100m Freestyle – he has now medalled in this event at the past three Olympics.

Chalmers also produced an incredible anchor leg in the Men’s 4x100m Freestyle to rocket Australia to a silver medal and claimed bronze (as a heat swimmer) in the 4x100m Mixed Medley Relay alongside fellow SASI athlete Matt Temple who played a crucial role in the final swim.

In Temple’s individual events, he finished 7^th in the Men’s 100m Butterfly and 23^rd in the Men’s 200m Butterfly.

Zac Incerti earned himself a bronze with a strong stint in the Men’s 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay heats.

Triathlon

The margins were very fine for Sophie Linn in the triathlons, who in two very tight fields finished 12^th in the Mixed Relay, and 21^st in the Women’s Individual.