Six of the Sunshine Coast’s best athletes are poised to compete at the Tokyo Games from July 23.
They’re among a 472-strong Australian Olympic team, named on Monday, which will compete in 33 sports.
Surfer Julian Wilson, swimmers Kaylee McKeown and Kareena Lee, kayakers Alyce Wood and Alyssa Bull, and archer Ryan Tyack are preparing for the 17-day event.
The Sunshine Coast does not boast as many Olympians as it did at Rio in 2016 – where we provided 12 – but what it lacks in quantity it makes up for in quality.
Sunshinecoastnews.com.au celebrates our super six and looks at how they earned their chance to represent their country on the ultimate sporting stage.
Julian Wilson
Coolum Beach’s Julian Wilson is set to be a part of history as surfing makes its first appearance at the Olympic Games.
He booked his ticket to Tokyo in December 2019 when he finished the year as the second-highest ranked Australian in the world tour rankings (11th).
The 32-year-old will head to the Games as a contender with almost 11 years of experience on the sport’s elite stage.
“Definitely wanting to go for the gold medal, that’s for sure,” Wilson told Wide World of Sports.
“I’m excited for the opportunity … I’m not going there just to enjoy the ride, I definitely want to go there and give it a good crack.”
He first took to the waves as a grommet at Coolum Beach, before he caught the attention of surfing fans and pundits in free surfing videos.
He then started to compete in earnest and it didn’t take long for him to make his mark, beating 11-time world champion Kelly Slater in his first world tour heat as an 18-year-old wildcard at the Gold Coast in 2007.
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He has since won five events on the world tour and was the globe’s second-best surfer in 2018.
Wilson was praised for his bravery in 2015 after he paddled towards compatriot Mick Fanning, when the latter was attacked by a Great White Shark in South Africa.
He’ll head to Tokyo with determination and with good form, after he finished fifth at Rottnest Island in May. He has also spent time honing his skills on the Sunshine Coast this year, ahead of the Games.
Wilson joins Owen Wright as Australia’s two male surfers at Tokyo, while seven-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore and Sally Fitzgibbons will compete in the female competition.
They are all considered medal chances.
The event should be held on Japan’s east coast, at Tsurigasaki Beach, about 90 km south-east of Tokyo, from July 26-29.
Kaylee McKeown
Teenager Kaylee McKeown (pictured above) is one of the rising stars in Australian sport, having recently broke the world record in the 100m backstroke.
The 19-year-old secured her place at the Games in June, when she won two events in style at the selection trials in Adelaide.
In emotional scenes, she said the death of father last year had motivated her to swim fast.
She claimed a new world’s best of 57.45sec in the 100m backstroke and a Commonwealth record of 2:04.28 in the 200m backstroke.
Born in Redcliffe, McKeown’s family moved to the Sunshine Coast and she completed her schooling at Pacific Lutheran College.
She and her sister Taylor linked with the USC Spartans and Taylor claimed gold at the Commonwealth Games at the Gold Coast in 2018 and silver at the Rio Olympic Games in 2016.
Kaylee is now regarded as one of the swim scene’s rising stars and will help lead the charge for Australia’s 35-strong swim squad at Tokyo.
Despite her age, she heads to the Games with some international experience.
She claimed two silver medals at the world championship at South Korea in 2019, and just missed out on medals at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in 2018.
Kaylee is considered a genuine medal contender at Tokyo and is set for a showdown with American Regan Smith.
“It’s just whoever comes up on the day. You never know what can happen in five, six weeks time,” she told AAP recently.
The pool events will be held at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, 6km south-east of the centre of Tokyo, from July 24-August 1.
Kareena Lee
Noosa’s Kareena Lee has been Australia’s leading open water swimmer for the past three years and was one of the first athletes selected for Tokyo.
The 27-year-old qualified for the 10km event in October 2019, when she finished seventh at the world championships in South Korea.
Due to the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics, she has endured a lengthy wait and preparation.
But she said she was in better shape now.
“I feel like I have got faster and stronger, with the extra year.
“I was ready 12 months ago and I’m sure I would have done a great job then, but I turned it (the additional time) into a positive and tried to work on everything I could – and I got faster.”
Lee swims out of the Noosa Swim Club, alongside three-time Australian men’s champion Nick Sloman, who missed out on qualification.
She trains in the pool at Noosa Aquatic Centre and at the bay at Noosa and she is in good form, having defended her national title at Coolum Beach in May.
Lee has plenty of experience, with several top-10 results at events around the globe. She should be an outside chance at a medal in Tokyo.
The event will be held at the Odaiba Marine Park in the Tokyo Bay, 8km south of the heart of the city, on August 4.
Alyce Wood
Maroochydore’s Alyce Wood is primed to combine with fellow Sunshine Coast kayaker Alyssa Bull at Tokyo after they reached a final at the previous Olympic Games.
The 28-year-old is set to compete in the K2 500 with Bull, and in the K1 500, after qualifying via the national championships in March last year.
She has emerged as Australia’s premier kayaker during the past couple of years, winning K1 national titles and combining with Bull to win K2 national titles, along with being crowned the K1 1000 world champion in 2017.
She won the K1 500 at this year’s Australian championships at Adelaide in May.
Wood, a former Immanuel Lutheran College student, has a surf sports background and still competes for Maroochydore Surf Life Saving Club, where she has an inspirational role model in Clint Robinson, who won gold at Barcelona in 1992.
She took up kayaking when she was 16 to help with her surf ski paddling and quickly found a liking to it.
Wood and Bull won the world under-23 K2 500 title in 2015 and caused an upset in Olympic selection trials to earn their berth at the Rio Games in 2016, when they reached the final and finished eighth.
Wood, a Sunshine Coast Paddle Sports Club member, has considerable experience.
She competed regularly in Europe, before COVID-19 stymied international competition last year.
Wood will be chasing a medal in the K1 500 and K2 500 after preparing well in recent months.
“We (Wood and Bull) have really nailed the race processes,” she said.
“I’m really excited to get to Tokyo and line up, we love the K2.”
Wood is coached by her mother-in-law Anna Wood, and her husband Jordan will also compete in kayaking at Tokyo.
The events will be held at the Sea Forest Waterway in Tokyo Bay, about 15km south of the city centre, from August 2-7.
Alyssa Bull
Alexandra Headland’s Alyssa Bull will also be pushing for a medal at Tokyo after making her Olympic debut with fellow Sunshine Coaster Alyce Wood in 2016.
The 25-year-old is preparing to compete in the K2 500 with Wood, and the K1 500, after qualifying via the national championships in March last year.
She is a a vastly different paddler to four years ago.
The Siena Catholic College product was a former rising star in surf lifesaving, winning the Australian under-17 ironwoman title in 2012 and a round of the elite Ironwoman Series as a 17-year-old rookie in 2013.
She appeared destined for a successful and lengthy future in the surf, but switched to kayaking in 2014.
It didn’t take her long to make an impression and she and Wood caused a shock in the selection trials to earn a berth at the Rio Games in 2016, when they reached the final and finished eighth.
Bull still competes in some surf lifesaving events, for Alexandra Headland, but is focused on kayaking.
She’s come a long way during the past four years, impressing on the international and domestic scene, including winning the under-23 K1 1000 world title in 2017.
She has also helped to inspire youngsters in the region.
Bull is expected to be an outsider contender for a medal in Tokyo.
Ryan Tyack
Mapleton archer Ryan Tyack is shooting for another medal after claiming bronze in the team event at Rio in 2016.
The 30-year-old is set to compete in the individual and team recurve competitions again, after qualifying via the selection trials in March last year.
Australia qualified the full complement of three archers, after a tie-break shoot-off against Turkey at the 2019 world championships at the Netherlands, where Tyack played a crucial role.
Tyack initially started archery 20 years ago after his mother, and now coach, Lynette encouraged him to ditch the video games and get active.
He went to an open day at Sunshine Coast Archery Club and struggled to shoot straight, but he enjoyed it.
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In time, he emerged as one of the country’s most talented young archers and he was part of the Australian team that won gold at the world youth championships in 2009.
Tyack just missed selection for the 2008 Beijing Games and the 2012 London Olympics but finally broke through with selection to the 2012 edition.
He joined Alec Potts and Taylor Worth to provide Australia with their first medal of the Rio Games, with a startling run through the competition.
A four-time Australian Open champion, Tyack is expected to have an outside chance of claiming a medal at Rio.
The archery events will be held at Yumenoshima Park, 11km E of the city centre, from July 23-31.
Huge Australian team
The team for the Games features 218 men and a record 254 women, with a record 16 Indigenous athletes.
Australia’s team is the second-largest to contest an away Olympics, 10 shy of the 482 athletes who contested the 2004 Athens Games.
Australians will compete in all of the new Olympic sports, including karate, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing.
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Australia’s chef de mission Ian Chesterman said the Australian Olympic Committee did not have a medal target.
“The AOC has talked about not setting medal targets and placing unhelpful expectations on these athletes,” he said.
“Given the events of the past 18 months, this has been the correct path, getting to the start line has been so difficult.
“They don’t need pressure from us.”
At the Rio Games, Australia won eight gold, 11 silver and 10 bronze medals.
