- Olympic and Paralympic athletes to be welcomed home in Forrest Place event
- WA athletes contribute to Australia's haul of 53 Olympic and 63 Paralympic medals
Western Australia's Olympians and Paralympians will be welcomed home today and celebrated in Forrest Place.
Fifty-three Western Australian athletes competed at the Olympic games and 20 competed in the Paralympics, with our athletes producing five of Australia's 18 gold medals at the Olympic Games.
Co-hosted by the WA Government and the City of Perth, this event is a public opportunity to honour the efforts and achievements of WA's Olympic and Paralympic athletes.
The event will include free entertainment, the opportunity to hear from our athletes about their experiences and relive the Games' highlights. There's also the chance to get a selfie and autograph at a meet and greet with the teams.
As part of helping get WA's athletes to the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris, the Cook Government provided $1,353,250 in funding support. This included:
- $750,000 to the Australian Olympic and Paralympic Team Appeal;
- $333,000 to the Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS) for athlete qualification and performance optimisation initiatives; and
- $405,000 towards direct athlete payments of up to $5,000 per WA athlete and athletes based at Perth's national centres of excellence.
Looking towards Los Angeles 2028 and the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, a funding boost of $20.8 million to WAIS was announced on 13 August 2024 to support operations and athlete development over the next four years. This includes:
- $9 million base funding increase for WAIS;
- $7.5 million for improvements to WAIS operations, governance and athlete development and care programs; and
- $500,000 for refurbishments to the WAIS High Performance Service Centre to accommodate additional staffing.
Today's welcome home event happens in Forrest Place in Perth from noon to 1:30pm. Everyone is welcome to attend.
As stated by Sport and Recreation Minister David Templeman:
"Congratulationsto all the athletes who went to Paris and all those who came home with medals. We are so very proud of you all.
"For more than four decades, WAIS has had a strong history of supporting local athletes in achieving their sporting dreams. It is a vital part of the fabric of the WA sporting community - from grassroots through to high performance - that we are celebrating today.
"The Paris Games also remind us how important it is to have a robust grassroots sport and recreation system because that's where so many of our Olympians and Paralympians first fell in love with their sport.
"I'd also like to take the opportunity to thank all the people behind our athletes - families, friends, coaches, allied health professionals and all the people who helped them and stood by them on their journey to Paris."
