FROM AN AUSTRALIAN PERSPECTIVE, the Olympic Games have reached their least exciting point. As usual, the first week was filled with gold medals, as Australian athletes excelled in what is traditionally their domain – the pool. Now the swimming events have wrapped up, and so begins Australia’s slow, painful and inevitable tumble down the medal table as other nations with more varied skillsets catch up, like they do at every Olympics.
It’s not all doom and gloom though. Australia does have a few gold medal hopes outside of the pool, particularly in track cycling, sailing and canoe sprint, which have all been Australian strengths historically. We’re sure there’ll be a few surprise medals too – notably, Noemie Fox took gold in the women’s kayak cross just last night, an achievement no one saw coming.
The most gold medals Australia has ever won at a single Olympics is 17 – a mark achieved at both Athens 2004 and Tokyo 2020. At the time of writing, Aussie athletes have tallied 13 golds in Paris. So, can they win a few more and pull off our greatest ever haul? It’s possible, but gold medal chances are diminishing by the day. With a week left in competition, these are Australia’s best remaining medal hopes.
What Australians can still win gold?
Jess Hull
Event: Athletics, women’s 1500m
Swimming may be Australia’s favourite Olympic sport, but the track team is looking unusually strong, particularly Jess Hull, who couldn’t have picked a better time to be hitting career bests. Last month, Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon broke the world record in the 1500 metres, but Hull stayed with her right up until the final straight to finish in second place. A week later, Hull broke the 2000 metre world record. Unfortunately, the 2000 metres isn’t an Olympic event, so the 1500 will have to do. On recent form, Hull looks like the only athlete who can challenge Kipyegon for gold.
Next in action: August 6th, 6:05pm, women’s 1500m round 1
Jean van der Westhuyzen and Tom Green
Event: Canoe Sprint, men’s K500m doubles
Green and Jean (the nickname by which Tom Green and Jean van der Westhuyzen are affectionately known) will not attempt to defend their gold medal from Tokyo. Instead, they’ll compete in the 500m canoe sprint instead of the 1000m, where they have just as good of a chance of ending up on the podium. The pair haven’t been overly successful in this distance at recent World Cups though, so maybe don’t bank on gold here.
Next in action: August 6th, 7:30pm, men’s K500m doubles heats
Matt Wearn
Event: Sailing, men’s dinghy
Matt Wearn won gold in Tokyo by a wide margin in the men’s dinghy. Since then, he’s also won gold at two world championships in 2023 and 2024. After eight races, he’s sitting in first place and is expected to win gold.
Next in action: August 6th, 11:43pm, men’s dinghy medal race
INSTAGRAM | @mattwearn1995
Arisa Trew
Event: Skateboarding, women’s park
She’s only 14 years old, but Arisa Trew is already ranked second in the world for skateboarding in the park discipline. She has a chance to become one of Australia’s youngest ever Olympic medallists.
Next in action: August 6th, 8:30pm, women’s park preliminary round
Men’s track cycling sprint team
Event: Track cycling, men’s team sprint
Led by Matthew Glaetzer – who overcame Thyroid cancer in 2019 – and Matthew Richardson, the Australian men’s sprint team features some of the fastest riders in the world and will be a force to be reckoned with in Paris, rivalled only by perhaps the Netherlands.
Next in action: August 7th, 2:59am, men’s team sprint heats
INSTAGRAM | @matthewglaetzer
Keegan Palmer
Event: Skateboarding, men’s park
It was a surprise when Palmer won gold at skate boarding’s debut at the Tokyo Olympics, as the then 18-year-old hadn’t yet announced himself on the X Games tour. Now, Palmer is one of the favourites to win gold in Paris, but he’ll face heavy competition from Americans Tate Carew and Gavin Bottger.
Next in action: August 7th, 8:30pm, men’s park preliminary round
INSTAGRAM | @keeganpalmer
Women’s water polo team
Event: Women’s water polo
The Stingers have only won gold once in their history, at Sydney 2000, and haven’t medalled since London 2012. But after going undefeated during the pool stage, a medal is looking like a possibility, and gold isn’t out of the question.
Next in action: August 7th, 3:00am, quarterfinal vs Greece
Nina Kennedy
Event: Athletics, women’s pole vault
Nina Kennedy shared the gold medal in pole vault at the 2023 athletics world championships with American vaulter Katie Moon. Both are head and shoulders above their competition and either could win gold, but at 33, Moon is at the end of her career while Kennedy is just hitting her prime at 27. Advantage Kennedy.
Next in action: August 8th, 3:00am, women’s pole vault final
Charlie Senior
Event: Boxing, men’s 57kg
Boxing is unique as an Olympic sport because it’s the only event that always awards four medals. There’s the usual one gold and one silver, but then there’s two bronze medals. The reasoning for this is that boxing is quite a dangerous combat sport, so rather than risking potential injury in a bronze medal match between the boxers who are eliminated in the semifinals, they just award both of them with bronze. As a result, Charlie Senior is already guaranteed a medal as he’s qualified for the semifinals in the men’s 57kg weight class. Best case scenario he goes better than bronze.
Next in action: August 9th, 5:30am, semifinal
Caitlin Parker
Event: Boxing, women’s 75kg
Like Charlie Senior, Caitlin Parker is already guaranteed a medal in the women’s 75kg boxing as she’s made it to the semifinal stage. She’s looked impressive so far, eliminating the world number one in the quarterfinals by a score of four rounds to one. Australia has never won gold in boxing, but Parker could end the drought.
Next in action: August 9th, 6:02am, semifinal
Cassiel Rousseau
Event: Diving, men’s 10m platform
Australia isn’t exactly known for its divers – we’ve only produced two Olympic gold medallists in history, most recently in 2008 – but Cassiel Rousseau represents the nation’s best shot at gold since Mathew Mitcham. Rousseau is the reigning 10m platform world champion and will be the favourite to win the event in Paris – and with China winning every diving event so far, he could potentially prevent a Chinese clean sweep in diving, just like Mitcham did.
Next in action: August 9th, 6:00pm, men’s 10m platform preliminary round
INSTAGRAM | @cassielrousseau
Related:
Full Olympic predictions: every Australian we think will win a medal in Paris
