Across a range of sporting events and support staff roles, nine members of the La Trobe community will don the green and gold as representatives of the Australian contingent in Paris for the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Current La Trobe students Amy Lawton (Hockey, Bachelor of Prosthetics and Orthotics - Honours) and Laura Paeglis (Archery, Bachelor of Sport and Exercise Science) will realise lifelong dreams as members of the Australian Olympic team in the next fortnight.
They will be joined in Paris at the Olympics by La Trobe University alumni Matthew Clarke (Athletics, Bachelor of Applied Science and Master of Podiatric Practice, 2019 graduate) and Andy Buchanan (Athletics, Bachelor of Physical and Outdoor Education, 2017 graduate), along with Australian Paralympic athletes Ahmed Kelly (Para-Swimming, Bachelor of Arts, 2021 graduate) and Bridget Murphy (Para-Equestrian, (Bachelor of Animal and Veterinary Bioscience - Honours, 2013 graduate).
Current La Trobe staff member Dr. Ebonie Rio (Senior Clinical Research Fellow with the La Trobe Sport and Exercise Medicine Research Centre) is a travelling Physiotherapist with the Australian Olympic Team, while Dr. Matt Driller (Associate Professor for La Trobe Sport and Exercise Science) will be in the role of Recovery Physiologist for the Australian Paralympic Performance Team . La Trobe alumni Kate Arton (Bachelor of Animal Veterinary Bioscience – Honours) will also be involved in a support staff capacity, fittingly as the groom of Bridget Murphy’s horse throughout her Paralympics campaign.
An established member of the Australian Hockeyroos team at the age of 22, Amy Lawton will head to Paris for her second Olympic Games appearance. Following her debut senior national team appearance in 2019 as a 17-year-old, Lawton quickly stamped herself as a rising star in world hockey and was a member of the Hockeyroos team that made the quarter-finals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics (in 2021).
The midfielder was also a vital contributor to the Hockeyroos’ performances in major tournaments in 2022, where they secured a bronze medal at the FIH Women’s World Cup and silver at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. As a 2022 La Trobe University Blues Sportsperson of the Year Award winner and 2023 Junior World Player of the Year nominee, Lawton is viewed as player who will be integral to the Hockeyroos’ medal hopes in Paris.
Making her inaugural appearance as part of the Australian Olympic team, Laura Paeglis will be targeting gold in the Women’s Individual and Mixed Team archery events.
Paeglis was part of the Australian squad that secured the mixed team quota at the 2023 Pacific Games in the Solomon Islands and has cemented her place on the Olympic team over the past six months across five qualifying events.
The 22-year-old was also part of the Victorian Institute of Sport’s Archery program that recently completed testing at the La Trobe Sports Performance Hub.
“It feels amazing to be selected for my first Olympics, this has been a dream of mine for a long time and to be selected is just the best feeling in the world,” Paeglis told olympics.com.au.
“It’s almost hard to believe, after so many years of training and fighting towards this goal, to be in this position is really exciting.
“I have been working so hard the last few years to make this happen, so I really want to go into the Olympics and perform the absolute best that I can.”
Matthew Clarke will represent Australia in the 3000m steeplechase in Paris, marking his second Olympic appearance following his participation in the 2020 Tokyo Games.
Since Tokyo, Clarke's journey has been marked by a number of significant accomplishments. In 2022, he clinched his first national steeplechase title and earned a spot on the Australian team at the 2023 World Athletics Championships. This year, he secured the national title and Oceania title, then set a personal best in Spain. This outstanding time broke the South Australian state record set by Kerry O’Brien in 1970, which was a world record at the time.
In addition to his own events at the Olympics, Matt will stay on in Paris and serve as the running guide for his longtime friend Jaryd Clifford at the Paralympics, showcasing his dedication and camaraderie.
Andy Buchanan has had a late call up to the Australian Olympic Team in Paris following the withdrawal of Australian record holder Brett Robinson through injury.
This will be Buchanan's first Olympic appearance, where he will compete in the men’s marathon taking place through the streets of Paris on Saturday 10 August.
A former La Trobe student on the Bendigo Campus, Buchanan graduated from a Bachelor of Physical and Outdoor Education in 2017 and is now a high school teacher at Bendigo South East College, where he teaches Year 7, 8 and 10. Buchanan also remains an active member of the local running community in the region, highlighted by the Andy Buchanan Bendigo University A.C Invitational event which was hosted at La Trobe's Bendigo campus earlier this year.
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The inspirational story of Ahmed Kelly continues with his fourth Australian Paralympic team selection. Born in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, Kelly was living in an orphanage with his brother Emmanuel before they were adopted by his mother Moira, who brought them home with her to Australia. Both Ahmed and Emmanuel had been born with severely underdeveloped arms and legs, and in Ahmed's case, he later had surgery to remove both his legs below the knees.
Not to be deterred from achieving his sporting dreams, Kelly has gone on to become an accomplished para-swimmer and will become a four-time Paralympian in Paris after making his Paralympic debut at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
A former La Trobe University Blues Sportsman of the Year winner in 2017, Kelly will be aiming to replicate or even exceed his achievements in Tokyo three years ago, where he won a silver medal in the Men’s 150m individual medley SM3.
Kelly will be joined at the Paralympic Games by fellow La Trobe alumni Bridget Murphy, who will represent Australia in the Class II para-equestrian classification.
Despite riding since she was a child, Murphy only made the switch from competing against able-bodied competitors to para-equestrian five years ago, signalling a rapid rise to her first Paralympic Games appearance in Paris.
“About five years ago another Paralympian, Sharon Jarvis, convinced me to come over to Para-equestrian and I’ve loved it ever since. It’s opened up so many opportunities and the support from everyone involved has just been amazing,” Murphy told paralympic.org.au.
“It’s something we dream of when we start riding and representing our country. To have such great teammates, I’m just very excited.”
The 2024 Paris Olympics will officially kick off with the opening ceremony on Friday 26 July and will run through until Sunday 11 August. The 2024 Paris Paralympics will soon follow from Wednesday 28 August to Sunday 8 September.
Stay tuned to La Trobe Sport’s Facebook and Instagram pages in the coming weeks for updates, features and recaps of our Paris-bound La Trobe representatives.
