House debates

Monday, 9 August 2021

Statements by Members

Tokyo Olympic Games

1:31 pm

Photo of Terry YoungTerry Young (Longman, Liberal National Party) Share this | | Hansard source

Whether they win gold, silver or bronze or don't make it onto the podium, I believe that every single Australian who competed in the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo is a champion. Through pure determination, strength, talent and courage and through rigorous training, they made it to the Olympics. Because of this, they're all winners in my book. Our champions put on a fantastic display of Australian spirit, talent, strength and teamwork, not to mention our Aussie humour, for the world.

My wife, Alex, and I and our daughter Jess sat on the edge of our seats in the living room as we watched Kaylee McKeown's amazing progress in the pool. She was competing in her first Olympics. Kaylee went to school in at St Paul's Lutheran Primary School and Kindergarten in Caboolture. She won gold in the women's 100-metre backstroke, gold in the women's 200-metre backstroke, gold in the women's 4 x 100-metre medley relay and bronze in the mixed 4 x 100-metre medley relay. I would also like to congratulate Charisma Amoe-Tarrant from Narangba for her incredible achievements in the weightlifting women's 87 kilogram group A in Tokyo on 2 August. She'd previously won a silver medal for Nauru at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

These games were equal with Athens as our most successful Olympics, with 17 gold medals achieved. Congratulations to all our Australian competitors for making the country you call home proud.