‘Icing on the cake’: Brandon Starc says older brother Mitchell has been an inspiration as he looks to end 32-year Olympics drought

The Starc family could be in for an unforgettable 2024, with Mitch set to pass a major milestone, while Brandon is looking to jump higher than ever before.

Few people have a better understanding of Mitchell Starc’s journey towards the top than his younger brother Brandon, who has forged his own incredible sporting career and is eyeing off his own slice of history at the Paris Olympics later this year.

But before he can clear those heights, he’ll sit down and watch his brother rise into rarefied air, with the fast bowler two wickets away from becoming Australia’s fourth-leading wicket-taker in Tests.

The left-armer gets the chance in the second Test in New Zealand – the team he made his debut against 13 years ago – with Mitchell just one wicket behind legendary quick Dennis Lillee, who took 355 scalps.

It’s an incredible journey for the 34-year-old who spent plenty of time behind the stumps as a young kid at Homebush Boys High School but then quickly transformed into one of the most feared quicks around the world.

“I’m pretty sure he had Steve Waugh posters on the wall, so he was always into cricket,” his younger brother said.

“He broke into it fairly young and he’s been at the top for a long, long time.

The Starc brothers have enjoyed incredible global success.

“It’s pretty awesome having him as my brother.

“He’s been a huge inspiration for me. He’s four years older than me, and seeing his work ethic and his dedication to being the best has had a big impact on me.”

While Mitchell is the talk of the town right now, Brandon is eyeing off his own magical moment as he looks to become the first Australian man since Tim Forsyth in 1992 to win an Olympic medal in high jump.

Starc finished fifth in Tokyo but won gold at the Commonwealth Games in 2018, with the 30-year-old looking to add another medal in Paris.

“With the constant effort our whole team has put into this, (a medal) would be the icing on the cake,” he said at the official unveiling of Australia’s Olympics uniforms in Sydney.

“It’s the thing that I’m missing – a real big global medal at the Olympics – and this would mean everything to not only me but the whole team.”

Brandon has endured a disrupted build-up with a couple of injuries keeping him out of action, although he’s confident he’ll be back in time for the nationals in April.

“It started off with a collarbone break, and when I recovered from the collarbone, it was getting back to jumping, and that was probably too quick, so my pelvis couldn’t handle the load change so quickly,” he said.

Brandon Starc (far right) with other Australian Olympians as the uniforms for the Paris Games were revealed.Picture: NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw

“Throughout the season, it started to get a little bit worse. At the end of last season, we had an MRI and started to look into it and decided to get it sorted.

“Everything is tracking along really well.

“I’m running probably as fast as I ever have, and my gym stuff is really good. I haven’t quite got to the jumping side yet. We want to be 100 per cent in Paris, so we’re taking things cautiously.”