We sat in front of our televisions and cheered Ash Barty on to Wimbledon victory on Saturday, and now it’s the turn of our Olympians.
And while we will be behind ever single one of our huge contingent of 472 Aussie athletes in Tokyo, a special part will be keeping an eye on fellow locals.
Two of them, Hockeyroo Emily Chalker and softballer Gabbie Plain will be first cabs off the rank, with the Olympics starting from Friday, July 23.
For the third, wheelchair basketballer Jessica Cronje, we will have to wait a little longer because the Paralympics will hit the road in late August.
Emily Chalker is headed to her third Olympic Games, where the Hockeyroos will be looking to maintain the form of their 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games silver medal performance.
Softballer Gabbie Plain will be taking part in her first Games, along with the Aussie Spirit side.
Jessica Cronje will head to the Paralympic Games as a member of the highly fancied Gliders squad. Despite failing to qualify for Rio 2016, the Gliders are currently ranked number two in the World and are a real chance of coming home with an Olympic medal.
Cronje, Chalker and Plain have more in common than their South Western Sydney region origins – all three are graduates of our local academy of sport, SWSAS.
Academy CEO Gerry Knights says the addition of these Olympic and Paralympic athletes takes our local academy’s list in recent times to eight since 2000.
Several more are reserves and in pre-Olympic train-on squads.
“The value of the academy within our region, continues to demonstrate that attention to detail and quality on-field and off-field preparation does eventually pay off,’’ Knights said.
The three SWSAS graduates who have received their “tickets’’ to Tokyo are among 30 Aussie athletes who have come through the NSW Regional Academies of Sport network.
That’s 30 out of a team of 472 athletes – 254 women and 218 men.
