Team Australia is on a plane to Berlin after a sensational send off at Brisbane Airport Convention Centre and some first-class treatment at Brisbane International Airport.
Athletes arrived into Brisbane on seven flights from noon and made their way to the Convention Centre where they were given a sensational and relaxing send-off with plenty of comfort, celebration and food.
Official Proceedings
At 4.30pm, athletes and officials were seated in their sports groups in the JFK theatre before being joined by our honoured guests:
- Tim Mander MP, Shadow Minister for Olympic and Paralympic Sport and Regional Development
- Professor Dr Michael Rosemann, Honorary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany
- Pierre Comis, Chief Executive Officer, Special Olympics Australia
- Brett Price and crew, LETR Queensland
- Sarah Whyte, Head of Communications and Brand Marketing, Brisbane Airport Corporation
- Peter Doherty, Media & Corporate Communications Manager, Brisbane Airport Corporation
Pierre Comis, Chief Executive Officer of Special Olympics Australia kicked off proceedings with an Acknowledgement of Country and welcome to Team Australia.
Tim Mander MP followed with a motivational speech about the power of sport. While Professor Michael Rosemann spoke about the creative culture of Berlin and the unique history of the city.
Rachel Lynch, Australian Olympic gold-medallist in hockey sent a video message which was well-received by the crowd as Rachel was a guest at the Team Australia Training Camp in March 2023.
Then it was time for the presentation of the officials pins to athletes and officials. The official pin features Koa the koala and is expected to be a hit at the World Games where pin trading is an unofficial competitive sport of its own!!
Pin Presentations
The pins were presented by sport by the following special guests:
Athletics – Ethan Rogers, Team Australia Champion, Special Olympics Australia.
Basketball – James Hammond from Special Olympics Australia on behalf of Brian Kerle, who competed in basketball at the Olympic Games in 1972 and was inducted into the NBL Hall of Fame in 2006.
Bocce – Terry Visscher, Special Olympics Australia who has been instrumental in having Special Olympics Australia athletes included in the Bocce Australia National Championships in 2023 for the first time.
Bowling – Kane Dean-Eddy, Senior Development Officer, Tenpin Bowling Queensland
Equestrian – Briston Toft, CEO Equestrian Queensland.
Golf – Ian Jones,Australian PGA Professional and PGA All Abilities Certified Special Olympics Affiliate Coach, Queensland.
Gymnastics – Julie McNaught, All Particiapation Coordinator, Gymnastics Queensland.
Swimming – Michael Anderson OAM PLY, Australian Paralympic gold medallist.
Tennis – Jane Prentice, Vice President, Tennis Queensland
Team Australia were also presented with Team pins and were happy to return the favour by presenting a Special Olympics Australia pin to each honoured guest.
The final hurrah was delivered by Natalie Cook OAM OLY, five-time Olympian and gold medallist in beach volleyball. Nat gave a motivational speech by video message for Team Australia resulting in a resounding round of Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi!
In between all this, Emily Taylor and Andrew Baker gave exceptional interviews to camera for Channel 9 News!
Then it was a full team photo and a feast before getting onto buses for travel to the International Airport – with flashing lights and sirens thanks to a police escort by our friends at Law Enforcement Torch Run.
After a private group check in with Qatar Airways, athletes, entered departures where the giant monitor displayed a good luck message to the team featuring Queensland athlete Emily Taylor (swimming) and Bruce Gossner (athletics). And the team were delighted to be recognised.
Now Bound for Berlin
After checkin it was another full team photo before security and boarding the 14.5-hour flight to Doha where they will transfer to Berlin on another 6-hour flight.
Extraordinary Effort
By the time the team arrive at their Host Town Accommodation in Berlin, some of our WA athletes will have been travelling for almost two days!
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Media Enquiries in Australia
or reach out to the Icon Agency team:
Jaclyn Dargue
jaclyn.dargue@iconagency.com.au
+61 438 504 419
Remanika Chaudhry
remanika.chaudhry@iconagency.com.au
+61 413 520 619
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Media Enquiries in Berlin
Sharon Nixon
media@specialolympics.com.au
+61 406 821 461
