Maddison Brooks has become an Olympic goal-scorer with the Hobart teenager making a dramatic return to the Hockeyroos side.
Having initially been named as a travelling reserve, the 19-year-old OHA midfielder was called up for the 2-1 win over South Africa after Alice Arnott withdrew with calf soreness.
Brooks sat out the 4-0 defeat of Great Britain but bounced back in a 3-0 victory over the USA, coming in alongside Hattie Shand for co-captain Jane Claxton and Tatum Stewart.
Arnott and Renee Taylor scored first-half goals to put the Aussies in control before Brooks scored the third in the 53rd minute.
Hockey Australia reported Brooks’ goal was “a sensational strike off a crafty period of team play”, adding: “Alice Arnott was again in the thick of it, setting Maddison up with a fine pass in the circle before the Tassie midfielder put it away.”
Australia next face a top-of-the-table clash against Tokyo Olympic silver medallists Argentina in a little over 24 hours and before their last group match against Spain.
The Hockeyroos sit on top of the Pool B standings with eight points, all but ensuring them a favourable quarter-final berth after three wins from five.
Stewart McSweyn is committed to contesting a daunting track schedule at the Olympics.
The 29-year-old has qualified for both the 1500 and 5000 metres in Paris and intends to pursue both even though it could mean him racing six times.
“For me personally, I will be targeting each event equally,” he said from the Olympic Village.
“I think my chances of being highly competitive are pretty similar in both if I execute some good racing.”
The King Islander will begin his campaign in the opening round of the 1500m at 7.10pm on Friday, seeking to improve on his seventh place in the Tokyo Olympic final which was the best by an Australian in 61 years.
With repechage (3.15am Sunday), semi-final (5.15am Monday) and final (4.50am Wednesday) potentially following, McSweyn will have little recovery time before the first round of the 5000m later on Wednesday (7.10pm) plus a possible final on Sunday (4am).
But he is embracing the challenge.
“The program is going to be good fun to be involved in and watch, because there is a superstar across every Olympic athletics event.
“I think my biggest learning from Tokyo is to not be afraid to dream big and believe why I can’t be right in the mix. I think Tokyo showed how competitive the Olympic distance events are in every round whether that is heats or finals so I will need to bring my best game.”
Ranked 21 in the world, McSweyn will run in the second of three heats with the first six in each advancing to semi-finals and all others heading to the repechage.
The Launceston-born, Melbourne-based athlete expects a packed Stade de France to offer a vastly contrasting experience to his previous Olympic campaign.
“I think the big difference is going to be the crowd inside the stadium and just how much bigger it is going to feel being back from COVID in 2021. It’s going to be amazing having friends and family there supporting live.”
Major championship doubles are nothing new to McSweyn who took on the 1500-5000m at the 2023 Budapest World Championships, finishing 13th over the longer distance, having tackled the 5000-10,000m at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast (finishing fifth and 11th).
With PBs of 3:29.51 (1500m, set in Monaco in 2021) and 12:56.07 (5000m in Los Angeles in May), McSweyn is the second fastest Australian in both his Paris Olympic events, sitting behind Oliver Hoare (3:29.41) and childhood idol Craig Mottram (12:55.76) respectively.
In 2020 he beat Mottram's 3000m record when running 7:28.02 and also holds the Australian 2000m record (4:48.77).
Ninth in the 1500m at the Eugene world championships in 2022, the Melbourne Track Club and UTAS Athletics Club member withdrew from that year’s Commonwealth Games suffering from flu. He bounced back by helping Australia win bronze in the mixed gender 4x2km relay on home soil which was his first global medal.
A talented teenage runner at King Island District School and Ballarat Clarendon College, McSweyn was a regular medallist at national track and cross-country championships before progressing to world titles in both.