Team Up Olympians

Team Up would like to congratulate our program partners whose teams or athletes won medals or participated at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

GOLD
Fiji Rugby Union – men’s rugby sevens team

SILVER
Hockey Australia – men’s team

BRONZE
Fiji Rugby Union – women’s rugby sevens team

NON-MEDAL-WINNING OLYMPIANS
Fiji Table Tennis Association – Sally Yee (ranked 65 in women’s singles)
Football Australia – women’s team (finished 4th) and men’s team (finished 12th)
Hockey Australia – women’s team (finished 5th)
Papua New Guinea Olympic Committee – eight athletes across athletics, boxing, sailing, swimming and weightlifting
Rugby Australia  – women’s rugby sevens team (finished 5th) and men’s rugby sevens team (finished 7th)

Team Up’s presence in Tokyo also included our Media and Strategic Communications Adviser, Joanna Lester, who took leave to cover the Games for Olympic Channel News. Based at hockey, she interviewed Australia’s men’s hockey silver medalists, as well as women’s and men’s hockey players from all participating nations.

“The Tokyo 2020 Olympics showed once again the power of sport to bring together the world and celebrate what is great about humanity,” said Team Up Partnerships Manager, Andrew Lepani.  “Team Up celebrated all Oceania success, but was especially thrilled to see the medal successes of the Fijian rugby sevens teams and Australian men’s hockey team. We congratulate our partners for their outstanding efforts.”

“We are also really looking forward to the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games  (which begin on 24 August) where one of our program staff, Nellie Ruth Leva from the Inclusive Gymbad program in Papua New Guinea, will be competing in athletics. The Team Up family will be cheering Nellie on from across the Pacific.”

Team Up acknowledges the invaluable support of our partners Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC) and Organisation of Sports Federations of Oceania (OSFO) in ensuring National Olympic Committees and athletes are able to take part in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, as well as the support of the Australian Government, via PacificAus Sports, for dozens of Pacific athletes.

Article adapted from the Team Up website.