By Sophia McCaughan in Sydney
Australia’s Olympians have returned home after the country’s most successful Games, proudly showing off their record haul of gold medals to a jubilant welcome.
Three days since the curtain fell in Paris, hundreds of athletes arrived at a rainy Sydney Airport early on Wednesday to be greeted by friends, family, fans and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Australia won 18 gold medals, 19 silver and 16 bronze for a 53-medal haul, finishing fourth on the medals table.
Emma McKeon, Australia’s most decorated Olympian, told AAP she was happy to be home and still couldn’t believe she’d won another three medals, taking her overall haul to 14.
“We felt the support when we were over in Paris, and to come home to this is really special,” McKeon said.
“You never could’ve told me I would be where I am now when I was like 15 or 16.”
Australia surpassed their previous best Olympics result – 17 golds at both Athens in 2004 and Tokyo in 2021.
When the last Games were held Arisa Trew was only 11, and never thought she would join the long list of Olympic champions.
Now 14, Trew became the youngest Australian to win Olympic gold when she triumphed in the women’s park skateboarding.
The effervescent teenager said she was excited to be back home.
“I can’t wait to go see all my friends tomorrow, or maybe tonight at the skate park and just like, go hang out and skate,” she told AAP.
“I just want to go and skate with my friends.”
It was a history-making Games in more ways than one, with Cam McEvoy becoming the first Australian to win the men’s 50m freestyle and the first man from his country to swim at four Olympics.
McEnvoy told AAP he’d made a lifetime of sacrifice to get to where he is now but still had plenty of fuel in the tank.
“The medal is amazing in and of itself, but the journey that it took to get here was a journey of a lifetime,” he said.
“Fingers crossed for LA (2028), and I mean fingers crossed for Brisbane (2032). I’d love to go to Brisbane.
“We’ll see what Father Time has in store for me.”
BMX racer Saya Sakakibara’s triumph may have been the most heartwarming Australian story from Paris, after she finally became Olympic champion following a near career-ending injury in Tokyo.
The country has been captivated by her relationship with her brother Kai, with Saya having vowed to win an Olympic medal for him after he suffered a brain injury in a BMX crash in 2020.
Kai told AAP he was proud of his sister and elated to be present to witness her victory.
“I don’t think words can describe how happy I am,” he said.
“For her to go over there and win, it was just the icing on the cake.”
Sakakibara said if not for her brother, she would not have won gold.
“Through all these years of training with Kai, he has instilled in me this belief of it’s wrong to give up,” she said.
“When I thought about giving up, it just really didn’t feel like me.”
Australia’s track and field team was beaming after winning seven medals, with discus bronze medallist Matthew Denny claiming the nation’s first medal in the sport.
“To finally give my family, my friends and my team some silverware to really show our hard work and walking away from the Olympic final – best Olympic final ever,” he said.
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