For athletes, Olympic fittings feel like jumping the gun

An iconic Australian fashion brand has been chosen to dress our athletes for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Athletes Henry Hutchison, Rugby 7's player, and Michelle Bromley ,Table Tennis player, try on a Sportscraft outfit in the Sportscraft Mascot HQ. Sportscraft have been selected to supply our athletes with their uniforms for the Olympic Games in Paris 2024. Pictures - Chris Pavlich for The Australian.

For athletes, being fitted for an Olympic uniform before qualifying for their event is like registering a false start on the track or in the pool.

“You don’t want to jinx anything,” Michelle Bromley confirmed. The table tennis champion, who represented Australia at the Tokyo Olympics, is among the thousands of athletes being fitted ahead of next year’s Paris Olympics by Sportscraft, which has been appointed the official supplier of the formal uniforms for the 2024 Australian Olympic team.

“There’s a lot that needs to happen between now and next year to qualify, so there’s definitely a weird feeling trying on the uniform a long way out,” Bromley said.

The athlete, who is currently juggling training with raising her eight-month-old son Lachie, won’t know until March if she will be representing Australia in her sport.

“You do have that premature feeling of ‘have I jinxed it? Have I not earned it?’,” agreed Rugby 7s player Henry Hutchison, who represented Australia at both the Rio and Tokyo Games.

“But it’s a dangerous game to play when you’re thinking like that, because you’re usually not focused on your body and your preparation, and that’s when injuries can slip in.”

Australian Table Tennis player, Michelle Bromley, tries on a Sportscraft' outfit in the Mascot HQ. Sprortscraft have been selected to supply our athletes with their uniforms for the Olympic Games in Paris 2024. Pictures – Chris Pavlich for The Australian.

The 26-year-old, who is seven months into his recovery after sustaining multiple injuries in January, appears alongside Bromley and swimmer Se-Bom Lee in Sportscraft’s new campaign The Craft of Sport, released to coincide with announcement of the Australian brand’s continuing partnership with the AOC.

“It felt like a really authentic way to celebrate another year of being able to support our amazing athletes,” Sportscraft general manager Haylie Sullivan said of the campaign.

This is the ninth time the 110-year-old brand has supplied the official formal uniform for the Australian Olympic Team. The designs will be unveiled about 100 days out from the opening ceremony, which will take place along Paris’s River Seine on July 26.

Sullivan was not forthcoming with specific design details but confirmed the brand would be sticking with tradition when it came to Australia’s iconic sporting colour combination.

“There’s definitely green and gold in there,” Sullivan said. “There are some beautiful different shades and hues, and the white freshens it up as well, so we’re actually really excited about this year.”

Hutchison, who vacationed in Paris last month, said the host city was already buzzing with anticipation ahead of the 33rd Summer Olympiad, which will take place between July 26 and August 11 in both Paris and France’s major cities including Lyon and Marseilles.

“There are already billboards up counting down (to the Games),” he said. “The Parisians are pretty keen; I think it’s going to be a good Olympics.”