Two years from today on 26 July 2024, the Australian Olympic Team will celebrate the official opening of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France.
The CommBank Matildas will be aiming to go one better than their fourth-place finish at Tokyo 2020, their best finish in the tournament to date.
Before the games kick off, a home world cup is on the cards next year in Australia and New Zealand, after that Australia will aim to qualify for their third consecutive Olympic Games.
France and the USA are the only two countries to have already secured their spot in the Games, with France qualifying as the host nation and the USA qualifying as the best-placed finisher in the 2022 CONCACAF Championship.
Australia's fourth-place finish at Tokyo 2020 captivated the nation, with Aussie fans cheering from home in force, with an average of 1.87 million (peak of 2.32 million) tuning in to watch the CommBank Matildas take on Sweden in the semi-finals, breaking the record for the largest-ever audience for a women's team sport in Australia, something the CommBank Matildas broke in their earlier group stage match against Sweden with an average of 1.46 million.
Going toe-to-toe with powerhouses like World No.1 the US, progressing through the 'group of death,' dishing out a 4-3 defeat to Great Britain and Sam Kerr officially becoming the CommBank Matildas' all-time leading goalscorer, were just some of the highlights and promising performances Australians saw the CommBank Matildas deliver at Tokyo 2020, and will surely be on display in Paris.
Australian Olympic Committee CEO Matt Carroll was excited to mark today’s milestone.
“One year since the enormous success of Australia’s Tokyo Olympic Team and just two years until Paris is an exciting time for the Olympic movement,” Mr. Carroll said.
“The success of the team in Tokyo set a high bar, so we are working hard with each of our sports to maximise their athletes’ performance opportunities in Paris. The shortened gap of three years has brought new challenges in preparation and qualification for the athletes so we are working closely with our sports to ensure they are ready to go in July 2024 – bring it on.”