Paris Olympics 2024: As the Olympic torch is lit in Greece, Aussie athletes unveil their French fashion

The Australian Olympic team showcased the formal uniforms 100 days before the Paris 2024 Games.

Members of the Australian Olympic team pose during the Australian 2024 Paris Olympic Games Official Uniform Launch at Clovelly Surf Club.

Australia unveiled its official Olympic opening ceremony uniform on Wednesday as the torch relay began in Greece, kicking off the 100-day countdown to the Paris Games.

Designed by Sportscraft, with footwear by Volley, the designs were showcased in Sydney by athletes ranging from reigning Olympic champions to those aiming for their first Games in Paris.

The uniform was revealed and worn by sprinter Torrie Lewis, Matildas striker Michelle Heyman, water polo star Tilly Kearns, Aussie Sharks water polo co-captain Blake Edwards, champion gymnast Georgia Godwin, sprint canoeist Tom Green, volleyball athlete Mariafe Artacho del Solar, rugby sevens captain Nick Malouf, and Australia’s first Olympian in breaking, Jeff Dunne.

The uniforms pay homage to host city Paris with an Australian flavour.

Cycling great and chef de mission for the Paris 2024 Australian Olympic Team Anna Meares said the uniform paid homage to the French capital with a focus on fashion, while remaining iconically Australian with a special feature tucked away within the green blazer. “A new element of the uniform that I love is the addition of the Olympians’ oath, which sits on the inside lining over the heart of all athletes. The jacket lining also features every Australian Olympic champion from 1896 to Tokyo 2020,” Meares said.

For the first time, Indigenous artwork will be featured throughout the Olympic opening and closing ceremony uniforms.

Olympic boxer Paul Fleming’s Walking Together and Ngalmun Danalaig (Our Way of Life) from Torres Strait Island artist David Bosun are showcased in the scarf and pocket squares and as part of the Australian Olympians oath in each athlete’s jacket lining. “Paul Fleming’s artwork is on the insole of the opening ceremony Volleys ensuring all Australian Olympic team members will be ‘walking together’,” Meares said.

Female athletes will wear a T-shirt or tank top under their blazers, with either chino shorts or a green and gold ombre skirt.

Male athletes will be wearing shorts and a T-shirt.

“The opening ceremony is a proud moment for all Olympic athletes, it symbolises the start of the Games and the excitement of what lies ahead in the two weeks of competition,” Meares said.

“I know Aussie athletes are working hard to earn their own opportunity to don this uniform in Paris and with 100 days to go, this will add excitement and inspiration to the training and competition grind, knowing this awaits their efforts.

“This uniform marks the moment of the new chapter of Australian Olympians bound for Paris, so get to know them and their stories because I guarantee you, they have earned this uniform, and they have so much to offer no matter where they come from within our country or what sport they compete in. These are people you can be proud of and will represent themselves, their loved ones, and you with great pride.”

Olympians Torrie Lewis (L) and Michelle Heyman.

Heyman is returning for her second Olympic Games, eight years after her first. “I love the fit of the uniform and I can be myself because I feel very comfortable in this,” she said. “It’s great that you have the choice between the skirt and the shorts. It made me really happy because I know when we went to Rio, it was a skort and I never wore it. I still haven’t put it on. It’s not me.”

On Tuesday, the torch for the Paris 2024 Olympics was lit in Olympia, Greece, the birthplace of the ancient Games, in a traditional ceremony. The official lighting of the torch marks the beginning of its journey across Greece before coming to France, which will end with the lighting of the Olympic flame at the opening ceremony.

“The Olympic Games are the only event that brings the entire world together in peaceful competition, said International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach.

“Then as now, the Olympic athletes are sending this powerful message: yes, it is possible to compete fiercely against each other and at the same time live peacefully together under one roof.”

The Olympic flame will be passed to the Paris 2024 organising committee during a ceremony at the Panathenaic Stadium, the historic site of the inaugural modern Olympic Games in 1896, on April 26. On July 26, it will take centre stage at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics.