Meet 50 QAS athletes striving for the LA ‘28 and Brisbane 2032 Games
Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games forecast: Here’s a sneak peek at 50 cream of the crop Queensland athletes from 16 sports you could be watching at the LA 2028 and Brisbane 2032 Olympics.
Other Sports
Don't miss out on the headlines from Other Sports. Followed categories will be added to My News.
It is Young Talent Time as young Queenslanders aspire to make the Australian Olympic teams bound for LA 2028, the Brisbane 3032 Olympics and beyond.
QAS AWARD WINNERS FOR 2024 INCLUDES MICHAEL BOHL TRIBUTE
The Queensland Academy of Sport is at the forefront in identifying the nurturing elite local talent from 16 different sports who could become Olympians - including at the 2032 Brisbane Games.
“We have an incredible depth of young talent here in Queensland - from 17-year-old
Surfing World Junior Champion Sierra Kerr, to YouFor2032 Para-archer Seth
Macdonald and BMX Racing Junior U19 and U23 World Champion, Teya Rufus,’’ said Sports Minister Tim Mander.
“These young athletes are the next generation of Queensland sport, capable of
showcasing the passion, talent and determination needed to be successful at LA
2028, Brisbane 2032 and beyond.’’
There are hundreds of rising Queensland athletes working toward the Brisbane Olympics, but these 50 QAS YouFor2032 talent identification squad members represent the cream of the crop at the moment.
Some athletes featured here have already represented Australian teams, blooded as rookies at the Paris Olympics. But most in this story were still striving to fulfil their Games’ dream in Los Angeles (2028) or in Brisbane (2032).
DIVING
Maggie Grey: A 10m Platform exponent, the young teenage rookie burst into the spotlight by winning the 2024 Junior World Championships in the girls 14-15 years age group late last year. A student at Faith Lutheran College in the Redlands, Grey has only been diving four years after starting as a gymnast. But with elite QAS coaching (Xiangning Chen and Arlow Vyninka), Grey said her “big dream’’ was to compete at the 2028 Olympic Games, and then the Brisbane 2032.
“I’ve always wanted to go to a Games and thought diving would be the best pathway for me. I honestly just love the adrenaline,” she said.
Archie Forsyth: Another Junior World Champion representative, Forsyth ironically hails from Cleveland District State College - the same school which Aussie diving world champion Cassiel Rousseau attended. At the world juniors late last year, Forsyth made the finals in the Junior B platform event - following on from his fifth placing at the Junior America Cup which led into the world juniors. He is the national champion of this event.
BMX
Teya Rufus
From Maryborough, Teya Rufus has hit the sport by storm. Last year she won the gold medal at the BMX Racing World Cup in Tulsa, and then claimed the UCI BMX Junior Women’s Championships.
All this from a youngster who was inspired to start in the sport after watching her brothers ride around the local streets of their hometown.
“Mum would say no, that I was too young (to ride), but when she wasn’t looking I jumped on the bike and rode off, first try,’’ Rufus said. “I always wanted to be like my brothers.’’
She has been a fast learner. While it took her until aged 15 before she won a major title, two years later she is known around the world in her sport.
It is hard earned success for a young woman whose father used to drive her regularly to Brisbane for competitions.
Mylee Toohey
Originally from Canberra but now based on the Gold Coast, Toohey burst onto the international stage last year at the UCI BMX Freestyle World Cup in Shanghai when she gained valuable experience competing as an independent athlete. She is a top 30 ranked world athlete in her sport and is a rookie on the rise.
TRACK CYCLING
Ryan Elliott
Brisbane boy Elliott is a pig in mud after the AusCyling headquarters was relocated to Brisbane. A silver medal winner in the team sprint at the 2024 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, Elliott said training in Brisbane’s climate and on world class facilities would give the national training squad an advantage. Elliott announced himself to the world when, at the 2022 Junior Track Cycling World Championships, he claimed two medals. He displayed the heart of a Lion as he survived a series of sudden death match sprints to win one of those medals.
Alex Hewes
A Gold Coast boy, Hewes rose to the podium at last year’s 2024 Junior World Championships when he claimed a bronze medal in the Omnium. He started off like so many children - simply riding his bike around his neighbour with his head full of dreams and aspirations. Now he finds himself as the best junior in his discipline as he eyes off the LA 2028 Olympics and the Brisbane Games.
ROWING
Eliza Bridgefoot
A Somerville House old girl, Bridgefoot was a member of the Australian U23 World Championship team which finished fifth last year. It was a huge performance from the under age rookie who was in her first major international meet as a senior. Previously she had represented Australia at the U19 world juniors in 2023. Such is Bridgefoot’s potential, she earned an invitation to the National Training Centre last year which was a huge achievement for a young rower.
Sophie Malcolm
A freakish athlete from Brisbane SHS, Malcolm has been a trailblazing youth rower. A Centenary Rowing Club junior, she has been a one woman medal winning machine. Last year she joined fellow Queenslander, Eliza Bridgefoot, mentioned above, as an under-age member of the Australian U23 World Championship team. But Malcolm has also been an elite cross country runner, proudly representing her school at QGSSSA events this decade.
Tristan Orchard (Paralympic)
A BrisbaneYouFor2032 athlete, Orchard has proved somewhat of a Mr Natural in the sport. He has dabbled in a number of sports, including tennis, but was quickly identified by the QAS as a rower after impressing at the first testing session he attended.
Toby Guffsassen (Paralympic)
Another para rowing prospect of high potential in the PR3 category, Guffsassen surged into the mixed coxed four bound for the 2024 Paralympic Games where his crew finished fifth. That will be an invaluable experience as he looks to consolidate his high standing in the sport looking toward the LA and Brisbane Olympic Games.
ATHLETICS
Thewbelle Philp (Athletics)
What a talent. A Mudgeeraba Little Athletics club junior, Philp’s speed off the mark is extraordinary. Last November at the All Schools Australia Athletics championships, Philp ran an remarkable 11.38 seconds for the 100m, an incredible achievement for the Year 11 Palm Beach Currumbin SHS student.
She is also brisk over the 200m distance (23.40 seconds), but her speed over the first 15m in the 100m is a point of difference. “It shocks me when I watch videos back (on my starts). I say to myself ‘oh, I can’t believe I did that’,’’ said Philp, who is coached by Leanne Hines-Smith at the Ignition Athletics Club. Philp has had to overcome adversity after being born premature at 29 weeks.
Guot Guot
Where do you start and finish with this bloke? An extraordinary youth sprinter from Ipswich Grammar School, the Spring Mountain youngster claimed a silver medal at the 2024 World Junior Championships (200m) before returning to Australia and running 20.04 seconds to break Peter Norman’s Australian open 200m record that had stood since 1968. And to think he grew up wanting to be just like his sporting hero, football ace Cristiano Ronaldo.
“He loved playing soccer, loved running, and always admired Cristiano Ronaldo,’’ said his parents Monica and Bona. Guot has high praise for his school coach, Diane Sheppard, who gave him the belief he could be successful. “She basically told me I could be great and that is the first time anyone ever told me something like that,’’ Gout Gout said.
Terrell Thorne
A St Laurence’s College product, Thorne ran a national record time of 45.64 seconds in the 400m at the All Schools Championships last December. The performance broke the previous U18 national record by Olympian Paul Greene (45.96 seconds) in 1989. He has always been a dasher, including over the 100m and 200m distances, but Guot Guot has those sprints covered and Thorne is building his own reputation as an elite 400m runner.
Peyton Craig
A beast of a middle distance runner, this Sunshine Coast 800m ace won a silver medal at the
2024 World Junior Championships and last year he made his debut at the Paris Olympic Games. He was originally a water baby who enjoyed swimming and then triathlons, but middle distance track is his calling.
Torrie Lewis
A St Peters Lutheran College old girl, Lewis was coached by Gerrard Keating during her formative years before linking with Andrew Iselin who helped her qualify for the Paris Olympic in the 200m. Keating, himself a former Australian Commonwealth Games 100m finalist, says the first time he laid eyes on Lewis as a 10 year old he saw something special.
“Normally I would not look at a 10 year old and say she is the next big thing,” he says.
“But she was just something out of the box.” While she is Australia’s fastest woman (her 100m PB is 11.10 seconds), Lewis is concentrating on the 200m at the moment after her Paris Olympics’ semi-final performance. Lewis said a Brisbane Olympics “is the ultimate goal”. “It is possible. It would be great if it all panned out. A hometown Olympics, that is all anybody hopes for.”
Calab Law
A stablemate of Torrie Lewis under Andrew Iselin’s coaching, the Caboolture junior hit the headlines with a bronze medal winning 100m performance at the 2022 World Junior Championships. He then progressed to win a place in Australia’s Paris Olympic track team where he competed in 200m and the 4x100m relay. Law’s work ethic and desire have been key to his side. As a Morayfield SHS student, Law used to catch the train twice a week to Albion to train with his current coach Andrew Iselin. He grew up inspired by his idol, 400m the 2000 Olympic champion Cathy Freeman, and has always aspired to run at the Brisbane 2032 Games. “I will be 27 that year so hopefully if I can stay injury-free and still be racing well, I will be there,’’ Law said in 2021.
Georgia Harris
A 2022 Junior World Championship representative, Harris is a 100m sprint prospect who has represented Australia at World U20 level and at the 2023 Pacific Games. Harris has had to overcome significant adversity after a string of injuries, but she runs 11.40s for the 100m and is a white hot prospect.
Abby Craswell (Paralympic)
A sprint queen who was a top 10 finisher at the Paris Games last year, Moreton Bay College alumni Craswell has been a benchmark athlete who has been a great example to her peers. Originally a gymnastic, the T36 sprinter and U16 long jump record holder first competed for Australia in 2022 at the Oceania Championships
SKATING
Arisa Trew
Trew captured the heart of a nation when she won an Olympic gold medal aged just 14 at the Paris Olympics - the youngest Aussie to win such a medal. Also Australia’s youngest Order of Australia recipient, the Gold Coast resident has LA (2028) and Brisbane (2032) in her sights.
Chloe Covell
Another elite Skate athlete, the Gold Coast resident from just over the Tweed border finished eighth in her event at the Paris Olympics. A 2023 World Cup runner-up, she will be in the frame to be competing in Brisbane at her current rate of performance.
Coco Crafter
From the Burleigh Waters catchment of the Gold Coast, Crafter is a rookie few outside the sport know. But the QAS has rushed her into the YouFor2032 Talent ID program after exceptional performance at senior world championships and World Cup events.
7s RUGBY
Fleur Ginn
A Stretton State College graduate, she is a serious talent with plenty of speed, finesse and power through the hits. She has been a high achiever and knows her game well. She knows when to involve herself into the place and has been gathering a lot of rugby seven-a-side experience with the Wests Bulldogs. She could be promoted into the top national side soon.
WATER POLO
Bless Daly
From the North Brisbane Polo Bears, St Margaret’s Anglican Girls’ School student Daly stands out from the pack due to her ball skills and uncanny goal scoring ability. Queensland has a small army of potential waterpolo Olympians, but Daly will led the charge to be a new face at the LA 2028 Games. The junior national team member was the outstanding performer in European Cadets Tour last year with several MVPs.
SWIMMING
Josh Conias
A BSHS’ swimming pin-up boy from the Somerville House club, Conias is an explosive 50m and 100m freestyle dasher. As it stands he is ahead of the clock when it comes to a 2028 Olympic qualifying time. Watch this space, as this bloke can race.
Jack Morrow
A 100m and 200m backstroke ace from the St Andrews club, Morrow joined Conias on the Australian team representing at the 2024 junior Pan Pacs. According to QAS data, he sits ahead of the curve when it comes to being a strong contender for LA ‘28.
Thomas Booth
A decorated junior swimmer, Booth is in the hotly contested 100m freestyle talent squad. He represented Australia at the 2024 Junior Pan Pacs and his 100m times are high class which has him on track to be in the frame for Los Angeles. He is a Citipointe Christian College alumni who did his formative seasons with Southside Aquatics.
Jaclyn Barclay
Barclay is not only the future - she is the present. Last year the St Peters Western ace won gold, silver and bronze medal representing Australia at the 2024 World Championships in the 100m and 200m backstroke. She then became the baby of the Dolphins’ pod at the Paris Olympic Games. She is a prolific prospect and could be a senior Dolphins’ swimmer at the LA 2028 and beyond.
Milla Jansen
Bond Swimming’s Milla Jansen went to the World Juniors last year where she won the 50m freestyle, was second in the 100m and then third in the 200m freestyle. She was also a member of the silver medal winning 4x100m relay and bronze medal winning 4x200m team. Jansen is a racer.
Hayley Mackinder
Originally from Christian College Geelong, Mackinder is like many Victorians who have seen the light - she has bypassed New South Wales to settle in Queensland. Embedded in the high performing Griffith Uni program, the junior Pan Pacs representative is a white hot 200m exponent who is ahead of the curve when it comes to qualifying for the 2028 Games. Watch this space.
Hannah Casey
Watch for Mt St Michael’s past student Casey to follow in the footsteps of another MSM old girl, Meg Harris, and swim for Australia in freestyle in 2028 or 2032. At the World Junior Championships last year, she earned a bronze medal in the 100m freestyle (54.74) and also in the 50m freestyle (25.04). She is just one in a pack of freestyle sprinters chasing Olympic selection, but at this moment the towering Casey is tracking toward LA 2028.
Zoe Ammundsen
From CHAC in Brisbane’s eastern suburbs, the Churchie club ace is another junior Pan Pac representative who has a big motor. She is an elite middle 100m and 200m backstroke exponent who knows how to find a podium finish. Queensland has a proud tradition of producing high class backstrokers and Ammundsen is holding up her end of the bargain.
Julia Remington
Now from the All Saints’ club but originally a Yeronga Park girl, Remington is a 200m breaststroke young gun who swam her way into the hotly contested junior Pan Pacs squad last season. The kid is tracking beautifully in terms of an Olympic qualifying time at this moment.
Piper Asquith
From Griffith, Asquith has been a schoolgirl sensation whose career is fast gathering momentum as a 200m freestyle swimmer. According to QAS data, she has well and truly swum her way into Olympic qualifying time territory if she maintains her level of improvement.
Ava Gaske
She has the heart the size of Phar Lap, a brave middle distance swimmer who has mastered the gruelling 400m Individual Medley event. A junior Pan Pacs representative last year, Gaske is the real deal who is shadowing Olympic qualifying time territory.
Mikayla Bird
Originally from Bond Uni but now with the crack St Peters Western club, butterfly whiz Bird has soared in a high achieving junior career that culminated in her selection in the junior Pan Pacs squad. Bird’s Olympic qualifying time form makes her one of Australia’s best when it comes to teenage swimming talents.
Victoria Belando Nicholson
The Yeronga schoolgirl has overcome extraordinary adversary to become an Paralympic prospect and a 2024 Para World Championship bronze medallist. Aged six months, she was found in the ocean by the Malta army after a refugee boat from an unknown African destination had capsized, drowning her mother. Described by the rescuing army medic as “being like a ragdoll’’, Belando Nicholson was face down in the water and had no pulse, but was revived, and two years later adopted alongside her sister, Destiny, by Brisbane’s Ewen Nicholson and his Spanish wife, Susana, who were living in Malta at the time.
She originally played competitive waterpolo with Mermaids, but is now an elite swimming striving for Olympic selection. Belando is just one of dozens of promising para swimmers in Queensland, some of which include Runaway Bay’s Sam Gould (S14 200m freestyle), Helensvale’s Montana Atkinson (S14 100m butterfly) and Sunshine Coast Grammar’s Grace Brimelow (S9 400m Freestyle).
This awesome foursome of Paralympic prospects were all the best of the best prospects in the state.
HOCKEY
Morgan Mathison
A recent selection in the Australian Hockeyroos team, Mathison is perfectly placed to build her game and become a two-time Olympian in LA and Brisbane. Originally a gymnast in Gladstone and a nipper at Tannum Sands SLSC, Mathison’s skill in hockey became apparent in 2011 when she was named in the Queensland primary schoolgirls side. Her sister Camryn is also a Brisbane Blaze national title winner.
Jamie-Lee Surha
A superb prospect from the beautiful central Queensland region of Mackay, Surha was recently selected as a new face in the Australian Hockeyroos side. A striker of the highest order, her development was fast-tracked last year when she gained valuable representative experience playing against seasoned campaigners while representing the Brisbane Blaze.
GYMNASTICS
Ruby Pass
A wonderful artistic gymnastic, her improvement was emphasised when she produced a 13th place performance at the Paris Olympics, up 22 places from her World Cup finish. From the prolific Premier Gymnastics Academy, the former Holland Park SHS student made her senior floor debut in 2023.
TRIATHLON
Aspen Anderson
The current Australian and Oceania Junior Champion, Anderson marked a line in the sand when she became a two-time Commonwealth Youth Games gold medallist in triathlon. Originally from Bushranger country, Macedon, north of Melbourne, she relocated to the Gold Coast where she excelled in the Queensland School Sport Aquathlon competitions. Her strong swimming and land speed also came to the fore at the Currumbin SLSC where she would compete in the 1km beach run - rubbing shoulders with club teammate and future track Olympian Elle Beer. Now she is a thrilling QAS prospect striving for the LA and Brisbane Olympics.
Tobias (Toby) Powers
From the glittering Currumbin Waters region of the Gold Coast, Powers made his
World Triathlon Cup debut last year off the back of three podiums in his four Asia Triathlon Cup races. One of those was a first placing in the Asian Triathlon Cup. Previously Powers has won silver at World Sprint Champs
BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Lara Maric
Maric is a prolific talent who is in the QAS program as a beach volleyball exponent, but who has also been named in the Junior National Indoor Squad. She is a Rochedale SHS talent who claimed an U19 national silver medal last year.
WHEELCHAIR TENNIS
Ben Wenzel
Already a Paralympic Wheelchair Tennis player, the FNQ product with a beaming smile is one of the highest ranked Junior WC tennis players in the world. He has been ranked as high as fourth, which underlines his potential. Only last year the proud Freshwater State School alumni won the US Open doubles championship alongside Dutch ace Ivar Van Rijt.
ARCHERY
Seth Macdonald
From the Centenary Archers Club, Macdonald has been ushered into the BrisbaneYouFor2032 program on the strength of thrilling potential.
SURFING
Dane Henry
The 2024 ISA World Junior Champion, Henry was regarded as the best junior in the world last year. He is from glorious Fingal Head just over the NSW-Queensland border, and has been competing since the age of five. Henry attributes his remarkable aerial manoeuvres to training on gym trampolines at the Surfing Australia High Performance Centre.
Sierra Kerr
She went the long way around before finding herself in the QAS program, but Aussie born, former USA citizen Kerr is now a World Surf League junior champion. Like a lot of coast kids, Kerr grew up mixing skating with surfing. But she had a unique ability to handle rough conditions better than any of her age group peers, and it was that skill - coupled with her natural ability and air skills - which saw direct her sporting prowess to surfing.
Originally published as Meet 50 QAS athletes striving for the LA ‘28 and Brisbane 2032 Games
Australian history-maker’s retirement call
She made her Commonwealth Games debut as a 13-year-old and after making Olympics history twice, Melissa Wu is heading into retirement.
Aussie champ to test anti-gay laws
After outrage from the family of an Aussie star when the World Surf League confirmed an event in an Abu Dhabi wave pool she’ll hit the event this week as world No.1.