Matildas headline powerful Australian Olympic team in Paris 2024
Australia’s real field of dreams has always been at the world level, and the Matildas will headline a strong Olympic squad heading into Paris 2024.
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Suffering from Matildas’ withdrawal symptoms already?
Don’t sweat it – Australia’s new favourite sporting team will be back in the global spotlight soon enough.
Only next time, they’ll be on an even bigger stage, and will be taking their superstar Aussie teammates along for the ride.
But they have done so much more than that.
They have also reminded Australians about why we instinctively come together as a nation during the biggest global sporting events.
It’s human nature that the playgrounds we love the most are often the ones we see everyday by peering over the back fence.
Australia’s real field of dreams has always been at the world level.
That’s not a take-down on our homegrown sports because they are part of our DNA too, but they simply don’t trigger the same collective sense of pride that competing on the global stage does.
One of the saddest indictments about the botched handling of the Covid lockdown was not that we closed our borders, but that we also closed parts of our minds.
We looked backward instead of forward, inward instead of outward.
It was an un-Australian thing to do but the Matildas have jolted us back to our senses and shown everyone it’s time to move on.
Let’s never forget the lessons of this past month, that when it comes to sport, Aussies can match it with anyone in the world.
The Matildas’ next big competition is the 2024 Paris Olympics, so everyone should strap themselves in because this is going to be an even wilder rollercoaster.
Australia has never won an Olympic medal in football – either the Matildas or the Olyroos – so millions of Australians will tune in just to follow their progress.
But they’re really just the tip of the iceberg because the Matildas have lit the fuse for the whole Australian team in France next year.
And like the FIFA Women’s World Cup, the Summer Olympics only happens once every four years.
That means the Games often disappear from everyday thinking, only to burst back into life when they are happening. That’s partly what makes the Olympics so special and why Australia has had such a long love affair with the greatest show in sport.
Next year’s Olympics will be something else. Every Olympics is great but Paris will be bigger and better and more inspiring than ever, and not just because of the Matildas.
There’s also the Boomers, the Opals, the Dolphins, the Hockeyroos, the Kookaburras, the Stingers, the Sharks and so many more.
It’s no coincidence that the 2021 Tokyo Olympics rated so highly. Or why the most watched event in Australia before the Matildas shattered all the records was the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
At a time when Australian families are struggling to pay their mortgages because the cost of living is spiralling out of control, the Paris Olympics is the perfect distraction that can’t come soon enough for everyone who has fallen head over heels for Sam Kerr and the Tillies.
When the Australian Olympic team sails down the river Seine with the national flag in hand for an Opening Ceremony like never before, the country will reunite again.
Competing against a backdrop of art, culture and some of the world's most recognisable monuments including the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe, it will be an event not to be missed.
But the number of medals won’t be the only measure of success.
Being back on the world stage, making Australians come together and being proud of who we are means just as much, and for that we have the Matildas to thank.
10 magical moments at the Paris Olympics no Australian will want to miss
The mighty Matildas chasing their first Olympic medal
The opening ceremony on the river Seine
The Boomers going for gold after getting bronze on Tokyo
The Aussie swimmers taking on (and beating) the loud-mouthed American rivals – Ariarne Titmus, Mollie O’Callaghan, Kaylee McKeown, Sam Short, Kyle Chalmers
Australia’s world-leading rowing pair Annabelle McIntyre and Jessica Morrison
Superstar paddler Jess Fox chasing more prizes to her bulging medal collection
Surfing taking place in Tahiti
Showjumping at the Château de Versailles
Australia’s pint-sized teenage skateboarders shredding it at the Place de la Concorde
Our golden girl beach volleyballers playing underneath the iconic Eiffel Tower
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