Australia's leading gold medal hopes in Paris: Swimmers, athletics stars, BMX racer among top shots
Updated . First published
Australia's top gold medal contenders
Swimmers, track and field athletes, a surfer, a boxer and a BMX racer are among Australia's top Paris 2024 gold medal contenders.
Click through to see who's most likely to win gold in France across July and August.
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Mollie O'Callaghan (women's 100m and 200m freestyle, multiple relays)
The red-headed 20-year-old champion from Brisbane has become a formidable force in global swimming since the Tokyo Games, where she only competed as a relay swimmer.
She's since won three individual world titles in the women's 100m and 200m freestyle events.
She took to the Australian Paris 2024 trials as the 200m world record holder, and although she broke the mark in the final, Ariarne Titmus won the race.
"I think she [O'Callaghan] is one of the strongest contenders across the board," Giaan Rooney, one of Nine's expert swimming commentators, told Wide World of Sports.
"Mollie could very realistically come away with an absolute swag of gold medals around her neck."
Kaylee McKeown (women's 100m and 200m backstroke, women's 200m individual medley, women's 4x100m medley relay)
The Sunshine Coast product will be trying to win three individual gold medals in France.
She won gold in the women's 100m and 200m backstroke at the Tokyo Games, and won all three backstroke distances at the world titles in Fukuoka last year, conquering the 50m, 100m and 200m. The 50m backstroke is not an Olympic event.
But McKeown doesn't only win gold medals — she breaks world records. She owns the 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke world records, with the scorching times of 26.86, 57.33 and 2:03.14.
She didn't contest the 200m individual medley at the Tokyo Games, but will be a hot contender for gold in the event in France.
Her coach, veteran mentor Michael Bohl, said becoming the greatest Australian Olympian in Paris wasn't a consideration.
"To be honest, it's not on the radar for me or her. It's just about trying to position herself the best she can to perform the best she's ever swum in Paris," Bohl told Wide World of Sports.
Ariarne Titmus (women's 200m, 400m and 800m freestyle, women's 4x200m freestyle relay)
A titanic battle awaits as Ariarne Titmus prepares to square off in the women's 400m freestyle with American legend Katie Ledecky and Canadian teen freak Summer McIntosh.
Titmus will be aiming to successfully defend her Olympic 400m crown, as well as her Olympic 200m freestyle title, and will try to take down Ledecky in the 800m, the American's favoured distance.
McIntosh snatched the women's 400m freestyle world record away from Titmus in March last year, stopping the clock at 3:56.08, but Titmus stole it back at the world championships in July, blasting out a 3:55.38.
Titmus and O'Callaghan fought an exhilarating 200m battle at the Australian Paris 2024 trials, with both dipping under O'Callaghan's world record and Titmus grabbing the win.
In McIntosh and O'Callaghan, Titmus has two superb youngsters trying to mow her down.
"It's a different feeling," Titmus told Wide World of Sports.
"I remember what it was like being that youngster coming up and chasing, and that gave me a motivation and a drive in training.
"But I think being the benchmark gives you a whole extra level of motivation to maintain your No.1 position in the world."
Kyle Chalmers (men's 100m freestyle, men's 4x100m freestyle relay, men's 4x100m medley relay)
The Australian sprint king is a genuine chance of winning his second Olympic gold medal in the men's 100m freestyle, which he took out as an 18-year-old at Rio 2016.
He was the silver medallist at the Tokyo Olympics, but won the two-lap sprint at last year's world championships.
"I actually think he's got a great chance, to be completely honest. I really like where Kyle sits in the scheme of the men's 100m free coming into Paris," Rooney said.
Sam Short (men's 400m, 800m, 1500m freestyle)
The 20-year-old is a considerable chance of winning gold on his Olympic debut.
He won the men's 400m freestyle title at last year's world championships and clocked three of the five fastest times in the event in 2023.
Short also won silver in the 800m freestyle at last year's world championships, as well as bronze in the 1500m freestyle.
Controversial Chinese swimmer Sun Yang could pose a threat to the Sunshine Coast endurance machine, given his four-year ban is set to end before the Olympics and he's reportedly planning on making a comeback.
Yang's 400m personal best is 3:40.14 and Short's is 3:40.68.
Short had a stinging message for the villain in an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald.
"I watched his races in 2012 and 2016 and he's a bit of a villain in the swimming world," Short said.
"If he comes back, I have no doubt that I can beat him and probably smash his PBs [personal bests]. I think his PBs probably won't win any of the events come Paris."
Dolphins teammate Elijah Winnington also poses a threat to Short. Winnington defeated his younger rival in the 400m and 800m at Australia's Paris 2024 trials. It must be noted, however, that Short was recovering from a bout of gastro that had stripped him of about four kilos and left him feeling weak.
Elijah Winnington (men's 400m and 800m freestyle, men's 4x200m freestyle relay)
Elijah Winnington won the men's 400m freestyle world title in 2022 and has reminded the swimming world of his brilliance this year.
Clashing with Sam Short, albeit an understrength Short given the young gun's health struggles, he claimed the 400m and 800m freestyle titles at the Australian Paris 2024 trials.
Winnington has personal bests of 3:41.22 and 7:42.95 respectively — times that put him in the top echelon of global swimming.
Cameron McEvoy (men's 50m freestyle)
Cameron McEvoy opened up on his remarkable transformation in an interview with Wide World of Sports in January, discussing his low-kilometre but high-intensity training, significantly bigger frame and what he's learned from other sports.
His dramatically different approach to swimming, adopted following a break after the Tokyo Games, has made him a force to be reckoned with in the one-lap sprint.
The three-time Olympian won the men's 50m freestyle title at last year's world championships, and has the fifth-fastest time in the event in history, having clocked 21.06.
"I feel now that Cam has not only found a way to combine his intelligence and his swimming capabilities, but by targeting the 50m it means he can be completely analytical. The 100m is more about being a racer ... whereas the 50m is all about not making mistakes. The one who makes the least mistakes wins," Rooney said.
Top swimming relay chances
Dolphins superstars will align for a common goal when they shoot for gold in the relays.
Led by O'Callaghan and Shayna Jack, the women's 4x100m freestyle team will be gunning for Australia's fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal in the event.
Australia also won gold in the women's 4x200m freestyle at last year's world titles in Fukuoka, and in world record time, as O'Callaghan, Titmus, Jack and Brianna Throssell combined forces. Titmus, O'Callaghan, Lani Pallister and Throssell were Australia's leading 200m freestyle swimmers at the Paris 2024 trials.
In the men's 4x100m freestyle relay at last year's world championships, long-time powerhouse Chalmers joined forces with young guns Jack Cartwright, Flynn Southam and Kai Taylor as the team charged to glory. Chalmers, William Yang, Southam and Cartwright were Australia's top 100m freestylers at the trials for the Paris Games.
Jess Fox (women's C1, K1)
The greatest female canoe slalom athlete in history shapes as a huge chance of winning back-to-back Olympic canoe single (C1) gold medals.
She rubber-stamped her greatness at the world titles in London last year, taking out a record-extending 14th world championship gold medal.
The French-born superstar will be aiming for her first Olympic gold medal in the kayak single (K1) event in Paris, and could feature in a new event called kayak cross, in which two competitors race each other at the same time, making for an aggressive and thrilling spectacle.
