Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

It is such a great honour to be able to be in this space to congratulate the outstanding success of our elite sportspeople who competed at these 2024 Paris Olympics. It is the most successful medal tally ever, but, more importantly, I think it's the spirit that's shining through from this team. I want to give huge congratulations to Anna Meares for her outstanding leadership, previously as an athlete and now as the chef de mission for this incredible team. We've seen some truly astonishing performances in swimming, road cycling, canoe slalom, equestrian, shooting, athletics, rowing, sailing, tennis and so many more. All the competitors at this year's games should be so proud.

But what I really want to talk about is that it is something truly special to be an Olympian. It's often a dream formed at a really young age by these athletes. They dare to dream, and they dare to set their sights on something that might seem so incredibly impossible. Then these athletes dedicate years and years to training and to travel. They sacrifice what many others take for granted. Their families and friends prioritise their needs. It is incredibly hard and gruelling.

Unfortunately, society sometimes focuses too much on the cream on top, the medals. It is an incredible privilege. It is a tiny percentage that make it to the metal dais. Too often, we focus on that, and we don't focus on the heroism of sport, which is often happening far away from the limelight. The amazing heroism of sport is often in the hard moments. It's when the dreams are shattered. It's when you pull a hammy. It's when you fall or it's that slight bit of luck when things just didn't go your way. It's in those hard moments, when those dreams are shattered, that athletes have to find the strength, the dedication and the perseverance to come back and to come back stronger, faster and harder. They actually put in that extra training towards their goals.

So my message is: huge congratulations to everyone who has had their dreams of becoming an Olympian come true and then has had that extra cream—maybe being a medallist—on top. But my message to Olympians also is: all those skills you have worked so hard for, over so many years, are incredible assets to you. As an Olympian myself, having been to four Olympics as an athlete and a fifth one as an administrator for the Court of Arbitration for Sport, I know so well how much those skills you develop as athletes will serve you well in life—your dedication and your ability to train, to focus, to work hard and to take criticisms, because there are always plenty from the outside world. There are always plenty of armchair critics looking at performances, but it's only you who truly know what you've put into it.

We also know sport brings us together. I've looked in wonder at the refugee team that has performed at the Paris Olympics. It's been some years now that they've been going to the Olympics, and I congratulate Cindy Ngamba, who won a medal in boxing—the first ever medal for the refugee team. It is hard to imagine how it would feel to be displaced from your country but still have that opportunity to bring that plight to light.

From an Australian perspective, it's been incredible to watch the Australian women really do us proud. As a female ex-athlete, I have to take some note of that, because women have had to fight hard for that equal opportunity to participate in sport and to be recognised in sport. It's still not there when it comes to fully equal funding and recognition in terms of pay, for example, because training and juggling your commitments is a full-time job, and it's incredibly hard. We've now seen female athletes competing for over 100 years at Olympic events. If you go back to the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, we had Sarah 'Fanny' Durack and Mina Whiley compete in the 100-metre freestyle. They finished in first and second place respectively, and they were inspired to do so in protest of the New South Wales Amateur Swimming Association's assertion at the time that women should not compete in competitions when men were present. We've certainly come a long way, but so much more is needed.

I must also do a shout-out to Warringah constituents: Rowena Meredith competing in rowing; Sariah Paki and Sharni Smale competing in rugby sevens; Shaun Connor competing in sailing; Clare Wheeler competing in football; and Sienna Green, Bronte Halligan, Sienna Hearn and Tilly Kearns competing in the water polo—congratulations on such an exciting silver medal.

I have a great love for the Olympics. Please don't forget the Winter Olympians. They do Australians proud as well, on the winter stage.

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