Victorian Institute of Sport preparing for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games
Paris is set to provide a dreamlike stage for the world’s greatest athletes to showcase their talents at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, from 26 July to 11 August 2024.
The Games will feature 19 days of competition and will see 10,500 athletes (5,250 women and 5,250 men) contest 329 medal events across 35 sports. This includes 20 mixed gender events. Gender equality in athlete numbers will be achieved for the first time at an Olympic Games.
“Victorian athletes have a proud history of representation and success in Australian Olympic teams and I very much look forward to seeing our current crop of athletes continue this in Paris 2024,” said VIS CEO Anne Marie Harrison.
There were 52 VIS scholarship holders that donned the green and gold for Australia in Tokyo, with nine athletes featuring on the podium. We have no doubt that there will be many more inspirational performances in Paris next year.
“Whilst some athletes will be focused on making their Olympic debuts, others are preparing for their moment where all the hard work comes to fruition. Whatever their journey, I am confident that our VIS family of world leading coaches will support them in the best possible way on their individual journey to the Games,” said Harrison.
Australia is expected to send a team of around 450 athletes and there are a number of Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) scholarship holders are on their quest for Olympic qualification, including;
- VIS Olympic Champions' Jessica Morrison OAM and Lucy Stephan OAM are looking to return to the rowing podium in 2024. While Stephan will be looking to defend her Tokyo Olympic title in the coxless women’s four event, Morrison will be looking to add to her Tokyo gold (W4-) this time in the women’s pair. All rowing events will be held at the purpose-built Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.
- VIS shooter, Laetisha Scanlan fell short of a medal in Tokyo, finishing fourth in the women’s trap competition by one target. Scanlan will be aiming for a medal at what will be her third Olympic Games.
- In Tokyo, Sinead Diver showed the world anything is possible, when she became only the second Australian woman to finish top-10 in the Olympic marathon at the age of 44. Diver will be looking to better her 10th place finish.
- VIS athlete, Amy Lawton, is currently the only Victorian in the Hockeyroos squad. In Tokyo, an unexpected loss for the Hockeyroos in the quarter finals has only strengthened the desire of Amy and her teammates to continue the outstanding tradition of the Hockeyroos at Paris 2024.
- Tyson Bull made gymnastics history at the Tokyo Games, becoming the first Australian to make an Olympic men’s artistic gymnastics final, finishing fifth in the horizontal bar. He will be one to watch when he hits the bars in Paris.
- Leon Sejranovic recently won bronze at the 2023 World Taekwondo Championships - it was Australia's first men's World Championships medal for nearly 25 years, and the country's first in any event since Carmen Marton won gold in 2013. Leon is firmly focused on selection for Paris 2024, something he holds as his ultimate Taekwondo dream.
“On behalf of everyone at the Victorian Institute of Sport, I wish our athletes the best of luck over the coming months; we know those selected will shine brightly in the City of Lights whilst donning the green and gold next July,” Harrison added.
Since inception in 1990, the VIS has contributed to the success of 35 Summer Olympic Champions including Catherine Freeman (athletics), the Oarsome Foursome (rowing) and Mack Horton (swimming).
About Paris 2024
Many events at Paris 2024 will take place away from the traditional stadium setting, with several iconic monuments being transformed into open-air arenas for an unprecedented fusion of sport and heritage in what will be a spectacular Games.
The Games will also extend to many other areas of France, with the football tournament being played in six other cities (Bordeaux, Nantes, Lyon, Saint-Etienne, Nice and Marseille), sailing taking place in Marseille and surfing held in Tahiti the largest island in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France.
The Opening Ceremony will be the first in Olympic history to be held outside a stadium; the city instead is inviting the public to cheer on delegates on a flotilla of boats proceeding down a six-kilometer route on the River Seine.
In another first, competitive breakdancing (breaking) will make its Olympic debut while surfing, skateboarding and sport climbing will all return after making their Olympic debuts at Tokyo 2020.
New disciplines and events in existing sports include; extreme canoe slalom, mixed team race walk, men’s and women’s kiteboarding events and a mixed 470 event in sailing.
Also for the first time in Olympic history, a mass participation marathon open to amateur athletes will take place on the same day as the elite event. The special ‘public’ marathon will be held separately but will allow athletes to run on the same course and in the same conditions as the Olympic event.
In yet another first, the emblem for both the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be identical. The emblem, described as the ‘face’ of the Games combines three iconic symbols; the gold medal, the flame and Marianne - a cherished symbol of the revolution and the people of France.
The French capital will be the second city to host a third Olympics (1900, 1924 and 2024), joining London and at the heart of the Paris 2024 ethos is environmental responsibility and sustainability.
