Why Paris was the perfect environment for our girls and women to shine.
By Samara Kitchener and Megan Foley
The Paris Olympics defined a new sporting era through multimedia storytelling and brilliance. It started with the Opening Ceremony. The French ripped up the rules book and did it their way. The Games were steeped in relevance and authenticity from the start. From the sustainable underpinnings, to the avant-garde French overtures, to the festive atmosphere – this was an Olympic experience that gave the world what it wanted at a time when it needed it.
The city of light lit a global flame of unity, hope and love, creating a perfect stage for our female athletes to shine. In this social media powered Olympics, athletes could shape their own stories, show us their inner worlds, and create their own value. This is particularly the case for female athletes who meaningfully engage with their audiences through authentic storytelling.
Paris set the perfect stage for our female athletes to flourish. They shaped an incredibly relevant and meaningful agenda by demonstrating real action on sustainability, equality, creativity and festivity.
They cleverly reimagined iconic landmarks – beach volleyball at the foot of the Eiffel tower and skateboarding at La Concorde - and beautifully executed branding to create an aesthetically magnificent backdrop.
Against this backdrop we’ve watched an awe-inspiring performance from our female athletes in Paris; achieving 13 gold medals from a total of 18 won in Australia’s most successful Olympics ever.
While our world-class female swimmers led the charge in Paris with amazing performances from the likes of Mollie O’Callaghan, Ariarne Titmus and Kaylee McKeown, Australia’s golden moments have spurned a host of new sporting icons.
The heart-warming stories of 14-year-old Gold Coast skateboarder, Arisa Trew who became Australia’s youngest-ever Olympic gold medallist, BMX-rider Saya Sakakibara and her record-breaking ride, dedicating her win to her brother Kai who suffered a devastating brain injury in 2020 that stopped his own BMX career.
Nina Kennedy’s pole vault win, the first time an Australian woman has won a field athletics event at the Olympics, and golden sisters Jess and Noemie Fox history-making wins in canoe slalom and kayak-cross, just to name a few. Not to mention the stellar performances of our women’s water polo and basketball teams – the Stingers came away with silver and the Opals winning a hard-fought bronze medal game against Belgium.
But reaching this ‘golden era’ of women’s sport hasn’t happened overnight. This seismic shift has been the culmination of decades of hard work by governments, sports, athletes, businesses and communities to achieve something close to gender parity for women’s sport in this country.
Kerry Turner is a renowned Australian women’s sport changemaker. She felt the pulse of how far women’s sport had come when sitting among an audience of 15,000 excited fans in Paris La Defense Arena to watch the Aussie Stingers Women’s Water Polo team.
Kerry is a former Stinger and world champion water polo athlete (1984 to 1994). She played 108 test caps for Australia, but never had the opportunity to play on the Olympic stage because at the time officials declared it wouldn’t find an audience.
Her mum, legendary women’s water polo activist Pat Jones, led the charge to get women’s water polo into the Olympic Games. After many cossie-clad protests at boardrooms, press conferences and airports, women’s water polo was introduced into the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. The Australian Women’s team took out the gold medal – a sense of pride coursed through Kerry – a moment she will never forget.
That same sense of pride returned in Paris. Kerry illuminates “The Stingers played incredibly well – they are brilliant athletes, but even more brilliant role models. They are so real, so in the moment, and have an incredibly strong belief in themselves and their teammates.”
“In and out of the pool the Stingers showed young women what it looks like to be at home in their powerful bodies. Their coach Bec Rippon instilled a sense of belief in themselves, with a calm voice always bringing them back to the moment. Their social media performance added another dimension to their impact.”
“The French dished it up the Olympics in a new way in physical and digital realms. The youth focussed, fresh, immersive experience of art, culture, music and sport felt like being immersed in a Monet picture rave – all my senses were on fire.”
“Paris set the stage for everybody to connect with high performance sport and spark a belief in themselves. All athletes have a voice and can use their influence for good. At a time when teenage girls are under immense pressure to conform to harmful social norms, athletes have an awe-inspiring ability to shine a light on self-belief and authenticity.
“Our female athletes are the cultural shifting heavyweights of the modern era of sport. They are pole vaulting their way into our hearts through a powerful mix of athleticism and authentic connection. Storytelling catapults their impact beyond sport fans - with an opportunity to use their spotlight to light the way for others.” said Kerry.
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