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 their lifelong dreams as members of the Australian Olympic team.
As 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.
“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”.
Paeglis told olympics.com.au
“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”.
“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”.
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.
The 2024 Paris Olympics officially kicked off with the opening ceremony on Friday 26 July and will run 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.