Russell Matheson (Macarthur, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

They say that competing for your country is the ultimate reward for any athlete. After so many years of dedication, hard work and sacrifice, to make the Australian Olympic team is an amazing achievement that all our athletes should be very proud of. I congratulate the Australian Olympic team as a whole on their success in London.

I am also honoured to rise in this place today to congratulate the athletes from my electorate who represented Australia at the 2012 London Olympic Games. They were not only representing Australia; they were representing all of the young aspiring athletes in Macarthur and the family members and friends who helped them along the way. From Macarthur, Emily Hurtz was part of the women's Hockeyroo team. The girls came in fifth in London, their only loss being a one-nil score against New Zealand. Their wins over Germany, the US and South Africa unfortunately did not count for much when a draw against Argentina cost the Hockeyroos a place in the semifinal. Currans Hill shooter Warren Potent competed in the 50-metre men's prone rifle event. Warren was a bronze medallist in Beijing but did not make the finals in London. He said it just was not his day.

Bradbury swimmer 20-year-old Daniel Tranter competed in the 200-metre and 400-metre individual medley. It was his first Olympic Games, and he made the semifinals in his 200-metre swim, a fantastic achievement. Daniel started swimming when he was seven years old to help with his asthma. He trained and competed in swimming clubs and pools across Macarthur until July 2011, when he joined the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre's high performance program. He was an outsider to qualify for London but smashed his personal best times at the Australian titles to claim a place on the Aussie team, a great effort by this young swimmer, who I am sure has his eyes set on the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. We also had Jeff Hunt, who grew up in Minto and who put up a great effort in the men's marathon, and the Campbelltown boxer Jai Opetaia, who was the youngest Australian boxer to ever make the Olympic team. He put up a great fight in his events and only lost by one point to the world No. 1, heavyweight champion Teymur Mammadov.

As the member for Fowler has mentioned, he has close family ties to Ruse triathlete Erin Densham, who brought home a bronze medal in the women's triathlon. I joined many Macarthur residents who watched Erin's gutsy effort to bring home the bronze. It was a very exciting race, with Erin leading nearly all the way in the final leg, the 10-kilometre run. In the 50-metre sprint to the finish line, she was pipped by Switzerland's Nicola Spirig and Sweden's Lisa Norden. The amazing thing about Erin is that she was diagnosed with a rare heart condition four years ago. She had life-saving surgery in 2009 to correct the condition, which made her heart race dangerously out of control. So you can imagine why her friends, family and home town were so excited to see Erin take out the bronze medal. More than 100 of her friends and local supporters gathered at the Campbelltown Catholic Club to watch the race, as did 50 members of the Macarthur Triathlon Club, who gathered at Wests Leagues Club in Leumeah to watch Erin and cheer her across the finish line.

Her good friend Michelle Smyth told a local newspaper that Erin was an inspiration to everyone who had struggled in life. She said that those who had suffered with any illness were right behind Erin because she stands for all their struggles. She said her friend was such a fighter. For me, this is what the Olympic Games are all about. Erin has overcome all obstacles, and her hard work and dedication have definitely paid off. To see her photo splashed over the front page of our local newspapers with headlines like 'Our girl' shows that the entire community was behind her. Erin carried the hopes and dreams of her country and her community in London, and she did us all proud. Today I congratulate her and thank her for being such an inspiration to young athletes in the Macarthur region.

Another medallist from Macarthur is Kaarle McCulloch from Wilton, who won the bronze in the women's cycling team sprint event. It was Kaarle's Olympic debut and a great achievement by a young athlete who has put a huge amount of hard work and training into her sport.

Kaarle and her teammate Anna Meares were cheered on by friends and family across Macarthur to win cycling's first medal of the games. It was another gutsy race, and many residents stayed up late to watch Kaarle and Anna beating the Ukrainian team for the bronze medal.

As I watched all Macarthur's athletes compete at the games, I felt overwhelmed by their achievements. Most of them have been part of the local sporting clubs and teams since they were young juniors. To have so many athletes in my electorate competing at the games was a great tribute to their families and all of Macarthur's sporting clubs and coaches who support our young athletes week in and week out. Whether they won a medal, made the finals or just gave of their best, it was great to see that all the hard work and commitment that these athletes have to put in gained them a place on the Australian Olympic team. I would like to thank each of our Olympians for being such great models for all our young athletes in my electorate. They should all be very proud of their achievements. They have made their friends, families and everyone in Macarthur very proud of them.

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