MEET the Territory-born athletes gunning for gold in the Tokyo 2021 Olympics and Paralympics.
The Territory may be small but it has produced its fair share of Olympic champions with Nova Peris winning gold in 1996, while Darwin-born Graeme Brown triumphed in 2004.
Friends and family may not be able to watch our stars in person but the Territory will be behind them all the way.
Here we take a look at the Territory-born stars who will feature at the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.
BROOKE PERIS (HOCKEY)
Darwin-born forward Peris made her Olympic debut in Rio as part of Hockeyroos and is heading to Tokyo in hot pursuit of her first Olympic medal.
She is the cousin of 1996 Atlanta Games gold medallist Nova Peris, who is a big influence on Brooke’s playing career.
The 2014 NT Athlete of the Year has had her share of international success winning gold at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival in 2013 and later that year winning the Oceania Cup.
Since the Rio Olympics she has been a member of the silver medal teams at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and the 2019 Oceania Cup.
Peris is brimming with confidence ahead of her second Games in Tokyo where the Hockeyroos will be targeting a medal.
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JEREMY HAYWARD (HOCKEY)
Darwin-born Hayward debuted for the Kookaburras at the age of 21 and scored his first goal for the side in the 2014 Azlan Shah Cup.
He is no stranger to success in the Australian national team winning the World Cup in 2014, the World League in 2015 and Commonwealth Games gold in 2018.
The defender unfortunately missed out on selections to both the 2014 Commonwealth Games and the 2018 Rio Olympics.
But with over 150 appearances for his country the now 28-year-old is once again a fixture in the side and will be making his Olympic debut in Tokyo.
STEPHANIE TALBOT (BASKETBALL)
Katherine-born Talbot began her professional career at just 17 playing with Adelaide Lightning in the 2011-12 WNBL season.
The forward would go onto play around the world playing with Gorzow Wielkopolski in Poland and USO Mondeville in France.
But most selection in the WNBA where she has been part of Phoenix Mercury, Minnesota Lynx and most recently Seattle Storm.
Talbot played for the Australian Opals in the 2016 Olympics and was part of the gold winning squads in the 2015 Oceania Championships and the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
TOM O’NEILL-THORNE (WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL)
Darwin's Tom O'Neill-Thorne was born with arthrogryposis multiplex but in spite of the condition worked tirelessly to become an athlete taking up wheelchair basketball at the age of nine.
He made his Rollers debut in 2013 and was part of the squad which won the 2014 Incheon World Wheelchair Basketball Championship, where he was the youngest ever Roller to play in a World Championship.
The now 24-year-old went to his first Paralympics in 2016 finishing sixth and was a member of the bronze medal team in the 2018 World Championships where he averaged 14.5 points per game.
In the past year he and fellow Darwin Roller Clarence McCarthy-Grogan have worked hard to boost the profile of their sport in Darwin.
ERIKA YAMASAKI (WEIGHTLIFTING)
Darwin-born Yamasaki started weightlifting in 2000 when she and her brother were tested in a talent identification program.
At just 18 she won bronze in the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games and narrowly missed the podium in the 2010 and 2014 editions.
The now 33-year-old has found plenty of success in the Pacific Games taking gold in 2015 and in 2019 was named the flagbearer and won a further three golds.
She is the first and only female to clean and jerk double her body weight having lifted 106kg in the 53kg division in the 2015 National Championships.
Now she sets her sights on her first Olympics in Tokyo.
LEON HAYWARD (HOCKEY - NEW ZEALAND)
The older of the two Hayward brothers changed sporting allegiances from Australia to New Zealand in 2019 and hasn’t looked back.
The Darwin-born goalkeeper will be heading to his first Olympics in 2021 and will look to bring his usual flair in order to keep the ball out.
Expect a fiery contest when he comes up against his younger brother with both fighting for country honours.
Before switching countries Hayward played for the Kookaburras winning silver in the 2015 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia.
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