From the track to the Mediterranean, 11 First Nations Australian athletes are poised to compete for gold in Paris across a sprawl of disciplines as the 2024 Summer Olympic Games commences this week.
Over the two week schedule, four will compete as individuals in athletics, boxing and in the pool, with others eyeing off the draw in rugby 7s, basketball, hockey, volleyball and sailing.
Patty Mills returns for his fifth Olympic Games - the first Indigenous athlete to reach to marker - after earning bronze with the Boomers in Tokyo, with Brooke Peris and Mariah Williams looking to end five-consecutive quarter finals exits for the Hockeyroos.
Australia's team also includes Indigenous Commonwealth Games silver and bronze medalists, with six Olympic debutants having boarded the plane to the French capital.
First Nations Australian Olympians competing at Paris 2024.
Calab Law Athletics: 200m Sprint, 4x100m Relay - Olympic debut at Paris 2024
20-year-old sprinter Calab Law comes into his debut games hot off a 200m national title in April and extending the feat at the Oceania Championships in Fiji last month.
The Wakka Wakka man has international honours on his CV with bronze at the under 20 world championships in the 200m in August 2022.
In May, Law booked his ticket to Paris with the Australian relay team at the World Relays in the Bahamas.
Abbey Connor Swimming: 200m Butterfly - Olympic debut at Paris 2024
19-year-old swimmer Abbey Connor is the youngest First Nations athlete competing in Paris, having already represented Australia at the Commonwealth Games two years ago.
After a second-placed finish at the Australian trials in Brisbane last month, the western Sydney product will look to go one better in Paris after missing a medal in Birmingham, while still at school, by 0.04 of a second in the 200m butterfly.
At 15, Connor broke 1980 Moscow Games gold medallist Michelle Ford's age record in the distance, set in 1978.
Maurice Longbottom Rugby 7s - Previous Olympics: Tokyo 2020
Dharawal man and Australian rugby 7s star Maurice Longbottom returns to the Olympics after bowing out in the quarter finals against Fiji in Tokyo.
A South Sydney Rabbitohs junior, Longbottom has chalked up 221 games with the national sevens for 106 tries and 792 points.
In Paris, he'll continue his tradition of pulling on specially designed boots, made in collaboration with his family and Dubbo-based artist Jason Phillips.
"It's a symbol of what means most to me, my culture and my family," Longbottom told NewsCorp earlier this year.
"And it also makes me feel grounded when I'm away from home for long periods of time."
The Australian mens 7s side, featuring Longbottom, missed a medal in the third-place match against New Zealand at Birmingham.
Brooke Peris Hockey - Previous Olympics: Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020
Hockeyroos co-captain and Ngarrawanji woman Brooke Peris returns for her third Olympics after debuting with the Australian women's hockey team at Rio De Janeiro in 2016.
The cousin of Australia's first Indigenous Olympic gold medallist Nova - who won gold with the Hockeyroos at the 1996 Atlanta Games, Peris has already claimed Comm Games gold and silver in Glasgow and the Gold Coast in 2014 and 2018 respectively.
After going back-to-back at the top of the podium in Atlanta and Sydney, the Hockeyroos - currently ranked 5th by the International Hockey Federation, have been unable to progress past the quarterfinals in the five summer games since.
Peris has made over 200 appearances for the national side, where she's joined by Mariah Williams.
Mariah Williams Hockey - Previous Olympics: Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020
Williams similarly has two Olympic campaigns of experience to build on in Paris after also claiming silver at the 2022 Comm Games in Birmingham.
The 29-year-old Wiradjuri woman played her 100th game for Australia during their bronze medal run at the FIH World Cup the same year.
Taliqua Clancy Beach Volleyball - Previous Olympics: Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020
Once an aspiring netball prospect, Wulli Wulli and Goreng Goreng volleyball star Taliqua Clancy comes together for another push at a gold medal with teammate Mariafe Artacho del Solar in Paris.
The duo have silver medals in their draws from the previous two Comm Games and Tokyo 2020 - Australia's first medal in the event since Sydney 2000.
Clancy was the first Indigenous athlete to represent Australia in Beach Volleyball at the Olympics when she competed in Brazil.
She has stated her dream to be an Olympian began with watching Cathy Freeman's iconic gold medal triumph in 2000.
Patty Mills Basketball - Previous Olympics: Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020
Even before the Boomers' campaign kicks off against Spain on July 27, Australian basketball and sporting icon Patty Mills has already added another accolade to his long put together over a 15-year career.
Mills is set to compete at his fifth Olympic games, an unprecedented mark for Indigenous athletes, after being the first Indigenous flag-bearer ahead of in his side's momentous bronze medal-winning dig in Tokyo.
An NBA champion with the San Antonio Spurs in 2014, the Muralag Torres Strait and Ynunga man has played the most NBA games of any Australian in history.
The Boomers face a tough prospect of Spain, Canada and Greece in their medal defence starting this weekend.
Ally Wilson 3x3 Basketball - Olympic debut at Paris 2024
At 30, Ally Wilson will make her debut with the women's 3x3 basketball, which is itself making just its second appearance as an event after Tokyo.
The Gangurrus women's team come into Paris off the back of strong preparations claiming FIBA's Universality Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2 in May and a flawless run towards gold at the 3x3 Asia Cup in March - both featuring Wilson.
In the five-a-side game, Wilson took home bronze with Australia at 2013 FIBA U19 World Championships in 2013, is a two-time WNBL champion and continues putting up impressive numbers with Bendigo Spirit in 2024.
Since adopting the 3x3 game, she's added a 2022 Commonwealth Games bronze with the third place match victory over trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand.
Through their Birmingham campaign, Wilson flew the Ngarrindjeri and Aboriginal flags with her teammates.
Marissa Williamson Pohlman Boxing: 66kg - Olympic debut at Paris 2024
Marissa Williamson Pohlman's meteoric rise through boxing continues with qualification to Paris just five years on from first pulling on the gloves.
The footballer-turned-boxer, 22, is a national champion and familiar tour member with Australian boxing squads in preparation for a debut Olympic campaign.
Williamson Pohlman booked her ticket to Paris with Gold at the Pacific Games in the Solomon Islands late last year, continuing her training in Collingwood Boxing Club under esteemed coach and mentor Kel Bryant.
Leading into the games, she sat down with National Indigenous Times to discuss her journey, setbacks and hard work towards becoming the first Aboriginal woman to represent Australia in boxing at the Olympics.
Callum Peters Boxing: 80kg - Olympic debut at Paris 2024
21-year-old South Australian Callum Peters is also eyeing off a continued run of success at international tournaments when he steps into the ring at Paris.
Peters similarly qualified with gold at the Pacific Games, and comes into his campaign having already earned silver at Birmingham two years ago at the 75kg mark.
Conor Nicholas Sailing: Mixed 470 - Olympic debut at Paris 2024
The Marseille Marina will play host to 26-year-old Western Australian Conor Nicholas' Olympic debut alongside teammate Nia Jerwood in the mixed 470 two-person dinghy event.
A former Youth World Champion, Nicholas and Jerwood qualified with a successful showing at Sail Sydney in December, before finishing 15th at the 470 World Championships in Spain earlier this year.
A potential fairytale farewell for Lydia Williams
Matildas veteran goalkeeper Lydia Williams still holds a slim chance of ending her international career in Paris.
Despite missing out on squad, Williams was selected as one of four travelling reserves heading to France as a top-up player on the ground if needed through the Matildas' campaign.
Recent relaxations of the IOC's rules around reserve players' availability through injury of a squad player has nudged the door slightly more open for Williams to make a showing in Paris.
The 36-year-old was a squad member of the 2016 and 2022 Olympics.
She announced her retirement for the end of the games earlier this year.
The opening ceremony to the 33rd Summer Olympics in Paris begins July 26 at 7:30pm (local time).
