Every Darling Downs Olympian set to take on the Paris 2024 Games

The biggest two weeks of sport every four years are upon us with several Darling Downs stars set to compete on the world stage. We reveal every single Darling Downs Olympian and when you can watch them in action.

Darling Downs 2024 Olympians

It is where dreams can be made and crushed, where a lifelong’s ambition can be achieved and where the countless hours of sacrifice can immediately be made all worthwhile.

The Olympics are back with thousands of the best athletes from across the globe converging on Paris for two action-packed weeks of sport.

Amid all this heart-stopping, endless action, the Darling Downs will be strongly represented on the world stage with several local athletes embarking on the trip of a lifetime to pursue their dreams of Olympic gold.

We reveal every athlete set to represent the region and when they will be in action.

Patrick Tiernan competing at the 10,000m men’s final at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Photo: Matthias Hangst/Getty Images

Patrick Tiernan

Sport – Marathon

Tiernan is locked and loaded for his third Olympic Games and will be a force to be reckoned with in the men’s marathon.

Having previously competed in the 5km and 10km events, the Toowoomba runner is set to take on the pinnacle of distance running in Paris.

He put in one of the all-time famous heroic efforts at the Tokyo games as he battled through extreme exhaustion and dehydration to ensure he finished the race.

Tiernan enters these Olympics in fine form, having taken the road running scene by storm since making the switch in 2022.

In January this year, Tiernan set a barnstorming marathon time of 2:07.45, which was just 14 seconds off the Australian record.

First event: August 10, 4pm AEST

Matt Denny with his ticket to Paris during the Australian 2024 Paris Olympic Games Athletics Squad Announcement. Photo: Sarah Reed/Getty Images.

Matthew Denny

Sport – Discus

One of the Darling Downs’ best medal chances in Paris, Matthew Denny has a date with destiny at this year’s Olympics.

After falling agonisingly close to winning a medal in Tokyo – where he was just 5cm off a bronze medal – Denny has been a man on a mission in the last three years, claiming gold in the Commonwealth Games and the Diamond League.

This year, he shattered his own national record at the Australian Championships in Adelaide with a stunning throw of 69.35m – just a week after battling Covid.

First event: August 5, 6.10pm AEST

Hockeyroos player Tatum Stewart poses during the Australian 2024 Paris Olympic Games Hockey Squad Announcement. Photo by Will Russell/Getty Images.

Tatum Stewart

Sport – Hockey

One of the rising stars of the Hockeyroos, Toowoomba’s Tatum Stewart is set to take part in her first Olympic Games.

The Rangeville Bulldogs junior made her debut for Australia in 2023 and has quickly asserted herself as a pivotal member of the squad, with five goals in 24 appearances.

Her ticket to Paris was up in the air earlier in the year as she had to battle to recover from a torn meniscus she suffered during a clash against India in February.

However, the 22-year-old completed a successful recovery in time to book herself a spot in the Hockeyroos team.

First event: July 28, 8.45pm AEST

Amanda Bateman (left) and Harriet Hudson won the double scull at World Cup III in Poznan, Poland, the final international regatta before the Olympics. Photo: Rowing Australia

Harriet Hudson

Sport – Rowing (Women’s double sculls)

The Warwick rower is another strong medal chance after she took home bronze in the quad scull event in Tokyo.

This year, Hudson will compete alongside Amanda Bateman in the double sculls event.

They have already formed a strong duo as they combined to pick up a silver medal at the World Rowing Cup II in May.

First event: July 27, 8pm AEST

Ben Armbruster of Queensland reacts after competing in the Men’s 100m Butterfly Final during the 2024 Australian Swimming Trials. Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images

Ben Armbruster

Sport – Swimming (50m freestyle, 100m butterfly)

The Granite Belt bullet is set to embark on his first Olympic Games and is a part of the famous Australian Dolphins swim team.

Armbruster competed in the 2022 Commonwealth Games where he was a part of the gold medal winning 4 x 100m mixed freestyle relay team.

Armbruster is pencilled in to compete in the 50m freestyle and 100m butterfly events in the French Capital.

First event: August 1 (50m freestyle heat)

Charlotte Caslick controls the ball during the 2024 HSBC Canada Sevens rugby tournament match between Australia and Fiji.

Dominique du Toit is pulled back by Reapi Ulunisau of Team Fiji during the Women's Gold Medal Match between Team Australia and Team Fiji on day three of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. Picture: Getty Images

Charlotte Caslick/Dominique Du Toit

Sport: Rugby Sevens

Southern and Darling Downs stars Caslick and Du Toit will lead Australia’s quest for women’s rugby sevens gold in Paris.

2022 Sevens Player of the Year Caslick will captain the side – eager to replicate the form that saw them win gold at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

The veteran star, who ranks among the best sevens players in the world, was born in Brisbane but is considered a Southern Downs ‘local’ after purchasing a farm near Stanthorpe.

Caslick will be well supported by lightning quick winger Du Toit in Paris.

Du Toit, who play in her second Games after debuting in Tokyo, was bought into the sevens program after a series of amazing performances at the 2014 Youth Olympics in China.

Born in Zimbabwe, Du Toit first played rugby sevens with Fairholme College after her family moved to Toowoomba.

First event: July 29, 12am AEST

Christopher Burton of Australia riding Nobilis 18 during the Cross Country during The Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials 2016 in Stamford, England. Picture: Getty Images

Christopher Burton

Sport: Equestrian

Like nearly every country boy, Burton is no stranger to life in the saddle.

Growing up on grain farm near Jondaryan his third birthday present was his first pony – Clancy.

Burton started competing at age six and Paris will mark his fourth straight Games appearance after debuting at London in 2012.

The now 42-year-old was part of the 2016 Rio Olympics team that finished with bronze after heading into the final day of competition in the gold medal position.

First event: July 27, 5.30pm AEST

Taliqua Clancy competes during their women's preliminary round Pool B match against Sri Lanka on day three of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. Picture: Getty Images

Taliqua Clancy

Sport: Beach Volleyball

A proud Wulli Wulli and Goreng Goreng woman, Clancy wrote her name into the Australian sporting history books when she became the first Indigenous athlete to represent the country at the Olympic Games level.

The Olympic and Commonwealth Games silver medallist was inspired to chase her own Games dream after watching Cathy Freeman win gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.

As a 15-year-old she turned an Australian Institute of Sport netball scholarship to accept a beach volleyball scholarship with the Queensland Academy of Sport.

Clancy has formed one of international beach volleyball’s most dynamic partnerships with Mariafe Artacho del Solar – the pair will once again be in action in Paris.

First event: July 28, 2am AEST

Isaac Cooper competes in the Men's 100 Metre Backstroke during the 2024 Australian Swimming Trials. Picture: Getty Images

Isaac Cooper

Sport: Swimming

One of Australian swimming’s brightest young stars, Cooper will be a key part of the team’s relay medal hopes in Paris as well as having high individual hopes.

The lightning quick back stroke expert burst onto the Aussie swimming scene in 2020 at the Queensland Short Course Championships.

Stopping the clock at 24.37 seconds won his age category in the 50m backstroke setting a Queensland Age, Queensland All Comers and Australian Age record.

Cooper was left heartbroken after the 2022 World Short Course Championships in Melbourne when he was denied 50m backstroke gold.

The former Toowoomba Grammar School Swimming Club member won the original final in junior world record time of 22.49 seconds.

Unfortunately the race had to be re-run after a false start not communicated to the swimmers.

Cooper placed second in the re-run final.

He carries red hot form in his second Games having won 50m backstroke gold at this year’s world championships in Doha despite hitting the lane rope several times during the race.

First event: July 28, 100m backstroke heats

Peter Bol in action during the Men's 800m final of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Picture: Adam Head

Peter Bol

Sport: Athletics (running)

Nagmeldin ‘Peter’ Bol’s family fled civil war in Sudan when he was four years old.

They settled in Egypt for six years before immigrating to Toowoomba.

Four years after settling in the Garden City the family moved to Perth where Bol took the first steps toward his Olympic dream.

He joined St Norbert College on a basketball scholarship and the discovery of his running talent came about purely by chance.

Teacher Helen Leahy was looking to fill spots in the school’s inter-house athletics carnival and Bol was dropped in.

He dominated the 400m race winning by 80m and produced an equally impressive performance in the 800m.

Racing at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, Bol stamped himself as medal chance after setting an Australian record of 1:44.13 in his heat race before lowering that mark to 1:44.11 in the semi-final.

In the final he finished an impressive fourth in what was a slower than expected, tactical race.

First event: August 7, 7.55pm

Joseph Deng celebrates as he wins the men's 800m race during the Muller Indoor Grand Prix IAAF World Indoor Tour event. Picture: Getty Images

Joseph Deng

Sport: Athletics (running)

Born in a Kenyan refugee camp after his mother fled the war in South Sudan, Deng’s family moved to Australia and settled in Toowoomba when he was six years old.

Deng, 26, ran his first race in the Garden City at age nine before his family moved to Ipswich three years later.

Alongside now former training partner Peter Bol, Deng is one of Australia’s most promising young runners.

First event: August 7, 7.55pm