After two weeks of competition against the world’s best athletes in Paris, we are super proud of how outstanding our La Trobe community participants have been so far.
Current students Laura Paeglis (Archery, Bachelor of Sport and Exercise Science) and Amy Lawton (Hockey, Bachelor of Prosthetics and Orthotics – Honours), as well as, La Trobe graduates Matthew Clarke (Athletics, Bachelor of Applied Science and Master of Podiatric Practice, 2019) and Andy Buchanan (Athletics, Bachelor of Physical and Outdoor Education, 2017) will return to home shores as the pride of the nation having been part of the most successful Australian Olympic team in history.
For current student Laura Paeglis, her debut Olympic campaign got off to an outstanding start when she set the highest score by an Australian woman in Olympic Archery in nearly 30 years.
The 22-year-old scored 640 after 12 ends in the women’s individual ranking round, the highest score by an Australian woman since the current 72 arrow ranking round format began at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
In her 1/32 Elimination Round match following the individual ranking round, Paeglis made a great start to win the first two sets in her match up against France’s Caroline Lopez. However, Lopez found her range to win the final three sets, bringing Paeglis’ inaugural Olympic appearance to an end.
Unfortunately, Amy Lawton’s Olympic experience did not pan out the way she would have hoped.
For Lawton, the Paris 2024 campaign contained a strikingly similar storyline to her inaugural Olympics appearance in Tokyo 2020, where her and her Hockeyroos teammates made promising starts by going undefeated in the group stage, only to be bundled out in the Quarter Finals.
The Hockeyroos won their first three games against South Africa (2-1), Great Britain (4-0) and United States (3-0), before drawing against Argentina (3-3) and winning their last group stage match up against Spain (3-1). However, their campaign came to an end in heartbreaking circumstances in the Quarter Final against the eventual gold medallists in China (3-2).
While disappointed not to have had the chance to contend for a medal in Paris, at 22-years-old and already two Olympic Games appearances under her belt, Lawton has time on her side and will no doubt be setting herself for a strong tilt at a medal in Los Angeles in 2028.
Attention now turns to the Paralympic Games, which will also take place in Paris from 28 August – 8 September. La Trobe has two former alumni competing in the Paralympics in Ahmed Kelly (Para-Swimming, Bachelor of Arts, 2021 graduate) and Bridget Murphy (Para-Equestrian, (Bachelor of Animal and Veterinary Bioscience – Honours, 2013 graduate).
We look forward to watching these graduates compete and go for gold in the coming weeks. Keep an eye on La Trobe Sport’s Facebook and Instagram pages, for the final weeks of updates, features and recaps of our Paris-bound La Trobe representatives.