Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on behalf of the Ryan electorate in congratulating the Australian Olympic team on their success at the recent London Olympic Games.

London was an ideal host city for the 2012 Olympic Games, with well-equipped venues for the world's best athletes and fantastic weather for the competition. I join with the member for Chifley, who commented on the outstanding organisation led by Lord Sebastian Coe, who was not only a great organiser but also a great ambassador for the Olympics.

We should all be very proud of each and every one of Australia's athletes and their efforts in London. As a combined team they delivered seven gold medals, 16 silver medals and 12 bronze medals, ensuring that Australia finished 10th out of 204 nations. This is a wonderful achievement for our nation—particularly given some of the other top 10 countries, including the host nation and the traditional powerhouses of the United States of America, Russia and China.

I would like to take this opportunity to recognise some of the outstanding athletes from the Ryan electorate who contributed to our successful Olympic campaign. In fact, the Ryan electorate added seven medals to Australia's haul. Cate Campbell was part of the golden 4 x 100-metre freestyle relay team. Fellow swimmer Christian Sprenger brought home silver in the men's 100-metre breast stroke and was also a member of the winning men's 4 x 100 medley relay team. I recently saw Christian's mother, Sharon, at the Brookfield Uniting Church community market's day. Understandably, she was very proud and delighted with her son's success.

Another teammate of Christian's is Bronte Barratt, who took out bronze in the 200-metre women's freestyle and who was a member of the women's 4 x 200-metre freestyle relay, which was awarded silver. Sophie Smith and Bronwen Knox were members of the women's water polo team, which took out bronze, and meanwhile, Mitchell Watt took out silver in the long jump.

I would also like to congratulate Mitch Larkin, who was a finalist in the men's 200-metre backstroke, and our young canoeists Alex Haase and Jake Donaghey, who made the men's canoe double C2 100-metre final. Alex is trained by Mr Kevin Crisp, who has been coaching canoeists at Nudgee Junior College in Ryan and other young people around Brisbane for many years.

I am also pleased to recognise a number of athletes from the Ryan electorate who took on the world's best in their chosen fields at the Olympics. Track cyclist Michael Hepburn, diver James Connor, swimmer Kenrick Monk, synchronised swimmer Francesca Owen, volleyball player Andrew Grant, and water polo player Rhys Howden. We are all extremely proud of these athletes, and on behalf of the entire Ryan electorate I congratulate them on their outstanding efforts at this year's Olympic Games and wish them well in the lead-up to Rio 2016.

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