2024 Paris Olympics UPDATED: Everything to know about Nine’s 11 hosts and 44 commentators

Author, ambassador, interviewer and host, Ally Langdon is a compelling storyteller and one of Australia’s finest journalists. Her reporting ranges from the frontline of Somalia’s brutal civil war to the raging heart of the dangerous Mount Marum volcano in Vanuatu and Canada’s remote wilderness, where she came face-to-face with apex predators, grizzly bears.

She is host of A Current Affair, having previously co-hosted Today and Weekend Today, reported for 60 Minutes and presented the 6.00pm 9News Sydney bulletin.

Langdon was the only Australian journalist to make it into Cameroon to cover the plane crash that killed six Australian mining executives in 2010, and a compassionate co-anchor of the 9Network’s coverage of the Queensland flood disaster in 2010-11.

She is the author of the 2007 book The Child Who Never Was –The Tegan Lane Story, an ambassador for the mental health charity R U Ok?, the Mirabel Foundation, and the Gidget Foundation, and is a lifetime fan of the Sydney Swans.

Sam McClure spent six years at 3AW from 2011, producing, reporting and contributing across various programs. In 2017, he joined radio station SEN as a reporter on the Breakfast program. He also worked as a football reporter for the 7 Network. Long known as “Scoop McClure”, in 2018 he joined The Age as a sports reporter, and in 2020 he joined the Footy Classified program on
the 9Network.

The Australian Football Media Association awarded him the Clinton Grybas Rising Star Award in 2015, while in 2021 he won the AFL Brown Award for most outstanding football journalist of the year.

McClure took on hosting duties for Wide World of Sports from Monday to Friday on 3AW in 2022 and is joined by some of the biggest names in sport each night.

Olympic Gold Medallist

Swimmer Giaan Rooney knows how it feels to be one of the fastest women in the pool ever. She won the 200m freestyle World Championship at Fukuoka in 2001 and swam the lead off backstroke leg for Australia’s world record-breaking 4x100m medley team at the Athens 2004 Olympics.
Her trophy cabinet includes Olympic gold and silver medals, three Commonwealth Games gold medals, winning two individual World Championship gold medals, the 200 Freestyle in 2001 and the 50m backstroke in Montreal in 2005.
Rooney retired from competitive swimming after the 2006 Commonwealth Games, turning to a career in the media. Since then she has appeared on Nine’s coverage of the Olympic Games London 2012 and Vancouver Winter Games, as well as television shows including Wide World of Sports, Getaway, Dancing on Ice, What’s Good For You, The Footy Show and 20 to 1.
In 2007, Rooney was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia. In 2019, she authored a children’s book, Lemon the Llama, which celebrates inclusiveness and diversity. She lives on a macadamia and beef cattle farm in northern NSW.

Paralympic Gold Medallist

Ellie Cole is Australia’s most decorated female Paralympic athlete. She has a jaw-dropping 17 medals from four Paralympic Games (Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020). At London 2012, she landed four gold medals and a world record as part of the 4x100m freestyle relay team. At Rio 2016, she medalled in all six of her events, including two gold. She also has 10 World Championships and four Commonwealth Games medals.

Cole has never let challenges get in her way. After her right leg was amputated above the knee when she was just three, swimming instructors said it could take her up to a year to swim in a straight line. It took two weeks. She had double shoulder surgery in 2013, but by the 2015 World Para Swimming Championships she was back in breathtaking form, winning five medals including three gold, and breaking the 100m world backstroke record twice in one day.

It’s little wonder she received Swimming Australia’s Golden Moment the same year. Ellie was awarded an OAM in 2014. A regular on Wide World of Sports, she was the flag-bearer for Australia at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Closing Ceremony and in 2022 won for Most Outstanding Woman in Sport at the Australian Women in Sport Awards. She is a mentor for young swimmers and an advocate for disability, inclusion, equality and women’s rights, and has recently become a first time mother.

Swimming

Wide World of Sports Commentator Mathew Thompson is one of the leading sports broadcasters in Australia best known for his calls on the Wide World of Sports’ NRL coverage.

He will be a key pillar of Nine’s coverage as the lead swimming caller. He has broadcast two world championships in the lead-up to the Paris Games and is in a privileged position to describe Australia’s Olympic gold medal quest. Highlighting his versatility, Thompson hosts a suite of podcasts, including documentary series Road To Paris, based on intimate interviews with Australia’s greatest Olympians; Six Tackles with Gus alongside the legendary Phil Gould. He was responsible for the writing, development and presentation of the highly successful Stories of Origin podcast series.

Mat has been involved in successful radio programs and continues to feature on popular radio panel programs, including Wide World of Sports and The Continuous Call Team, for which he also broadcasts NRL matches.

Olympic Gold Medallist and Expert

Cate Campbell is one of Australia’s greatest ever Olympians and is regarded as Australia’s greatest ever relay swimmer. Born in Africa as the first born of five siblings, she moved to Australia in 2001 where she took up competitive swimming. Within six years she was a Youth Olympian, at the age of 16 she was on her way to the Beijing 2008 Olympics, returning with two bronze medals.

It was London 2012 where she earned her first gold medal, in Olympic record time in the 4 x 100m relay. She backed it up in the same event at Rio 2016, this time with her sister Bronte and setting a new world record in the process.

In her fourth Olympic Games at Tokyo 2020, Cate was awarded the honour of being the Opening Ceremony Flag Bearer for the Australian Olympic Team, alongside Patty Mills.

In the same week she anchored another World Record breaking swim to win her third successive Olympic gold medal in the same event. She backed it up with another gold medal in the 4x100m medley relay.

In doing so she became just the third Australian Opening Ceremony Flag Bearer to claim gold at a Summer Games and Australia’s Oldest Olympic swimming champion. After missing out on Paris 2024 Olympic selection, Cate retired from competitive swimming with four gold, one silver and one bronze at the Olympics. Her brother’s journey with Cerebral Palsy inspired her desire to provide commentary at the Paralympic games for Swimming.

Swimming – Wide World of Sports Presenter

Sports broadcaster, Roz Kelly, is the host of Nine’s long-running national show, Wide World of Sports, and 9News Sydney’s 6pm weekend sports bulletin. Roz is also a key member of Nine’s award winning Wide World of Sports team as co-host of the network’s Australian Open coverage.

Previously, she hosted the acclaimed Big Bash League coverage on Channel 10 alongside Australian cricket legend Adam Gilchrist for three seasons. During her time at Channel 10, Roz also hosted the 10 News First national weekend sports bulletin with Chris Bath, co-hosted much loved sports news show, Sports Tonight, and was an integral member of the 10 Sports team – fronting the network’s major broadcasts such as the Formula One Australian Grand Prix, Melbourne Cup Carnival, Bathurst 1000, Australian MotoGP and Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

In an 18 year career as a sports journalist, Roz has clocked up thousands of air miles travelling the globe reporting on the ground at Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, Rugby World Cup, Ashes series … to the Champs-Élysées as Aussie Cadel Evans made history in the Tour de France and even as far as remote breaks off Tahiti and Fiji for the World Surf League.

Athletics Commentator

A deep reservoir of knowledge and a capacity for emotive and brilliant storytelling makes Gerard Whateley one of Australia’s pre-eminent sports broadcasters. His career has taken him to the world’s biggest stages, captivating audiences with agenda-setting analysis and compelling commentary and delivering some of the most enduring calls in sport.

Having broadcast the Super Bowl into Australia seven times, a fixture at arguably the world’s biggest annual sporting event. His call of Black Caviar’s historic victory at Royal Ascot remains one of his most treasured experiences, along with the numerous Ashes series he has broadcast in Australia and England.

Whately’s work has been recognised again and again. Accolades include Best Radio Program for his morning radio show at the Australian Football Media Awards, something he achieved five times in its six years on air. He has won the prestigious Alf Brown Award for Outstanding Achievement and Leadership in Sports Broadcasting four times, and received repeated recognition as Australia’s Best Radio Caller. In 2023, he won the Australian Sports Commission Media Award for Best Coverage by an Individual (Broadcast) and the Australian Commercial Radio Award for Best Sports Presenter (Metro).

His great broadcast skills have featured at Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, the Melbourne Cup and AFL Hall of Fame, among many other major sporting events. His 2012 book Black Caviar, The Horse of a Lifetime featured in best seller lists for almost two years.

Olympic Gold Medallist and Superstar

Michael Johnson is widely regarded as one of the greatest athletes of all time. In the 1990s, the four-time Olympic gold medallist dominated the 200m and 400m.

Starting in 1993, Johnson embarked on an incredible sequence of 400m races in which he was undefeated 58 times, and he was soon being hailed as “Superman”. The pinnacle of his track career came at the Olympic Games Atlanta 1996 where 83,000 spectators saw Johnson, in his golden running shoes, complete a remarkable 200m-400m double, an achievement never matched before or since in men’s athletics.

His times were remarkable too: 19.32 seconds for the 200m – a world record that stood for 12 years until being broken by Usain Bolt – and 43.49 seconds for the 400m. On August 26, 1999 in Seville, Johnson set a new 400m world record of 43.18 seconds which stood for 17 years.

In a decade at the top, which culminated in a final Olympic gold in the 400m at Sydney 2000, Johnson amassed eight world and four Olympic titles (never once a silver or bronze). He retired from competition in 2001.

Olympic Gold Medallist

To call pole vaulter Steve Hooker a high-flyer is an understatement: at his peak he made astounding vaults higher than 6m on seven occasions. Only four men have jumped higher than his personal best of 6.06m.

Hooker won gold at Beijing 2008, soaring over the bar to set a new Olympic record and becoming the first Australian male to win a gold in track and field in 40 years. He triumphed at the World Championships in Berlin the following year and has won World Indoor, IAAF Continental Cup and Commonwealth championships.

He is one of only two people to win two Sport Australia Hall of Fame Don Awards (2008 and 2009), which recognises the athlete who most inspired the nation. Steve was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2009 and inducted into the Australian Sport Hall of Fame in 2017.

Olympics Finalist and Commentator

David Culbert’s passion for sport has taken him from the heights of competition to sports marketing and broadcast roles that have made him one of the best-regarded commentators in the country. A dual Olympic long jumper (Seoul 1988, and a finalist at Barcelona 1992), his trophy cabinet also holds two Commonwealth Games medals and three Australian championships.

Culbert has worked on every Summer Olympics and Commonwealth Games since 1998, along with other major events including the Winter Olympics, World Athletics Championships and the Australian Open tennis tournament.

He moved into sports marketing at the end of his competitive career and is now one of Australia’s leading sports business strategists. He is a life member of Athletics Australia and was previously an Athletics Australia selector. In 2022, he won the Sport Australia Media Award for Best Broadcaster. He is co-chair of the Australian Olympians Association and co-founder and director of Aussie Aths, a health and fitness program for kids based on athletics.

Olympian & World Champion

Tamsyn Lewis-Manou dominated athletics in Australia for well over a decade, claiming 18 Australian titles during the period 1998-2012. She is also a three-time Olympian. Her most successful event was the 800m, in which her shining moment came in 2008, winning the World Indoor Championships in Valencia and beating champion Maria Mutola.

She was also part of three consecutive gold-medal relay teams in the 4x400m at the Commonwealth Games in 1998, 2002 and 2006.

Tamsyn has always been passionate about athletics and is now continuing that passion in the commentary box. She was an expert commentator for the track events for the Olympic Games Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 as well as the 2018 Gold Coast and 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

9Network Sports Presenter

Tony Jones has long been at the heart of Australian media, delivering unmissable coverage across news and sport. A skilled television host and trusted presenter, Jones has been a central player in teams covering the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, 2010 Winter Olympics from Vancouver and the 23rd Winter Olympics from Pyeongchang, and is a host of Nine’s coverage of the Australian Open.

Joining Channel Nine Melbourne in 1986, his reporting has spanned the nightmare of Australia’s Black Saturday bushfires and the elation of retrieving Lauren Burns’ Olympic gold medal for taekwondo, meeting South African President
Nelson Mandella.

In 2017, he took over hosting on The Sunday Footy Show, a role he originally held in 2006. He has also been the sports presenter on TODAY. Jones celebrated 35 years with the Nine Network in 2021, and remains a fixture on Melbourne radio, regularly filling in for Tom Elliott on 3AW’s top-rating Morning Show.

Olympic Legend

NBL’s 1984 Rookie of the Year Andrew Gaze went on to become a five-time Olympian, competing at Los Angeles, Seoul, Barcelona, Atlanta and Sydney which is the most appearances of any Australian basketballer.

He scored 789 points at the Olympics, a total beaten only by Brazil’s Oscar Schmidt. He is Australia’s greatest ever basketballer, captaining the Boomers for eight years, competing in 297 games for his country, playing 612 NBL games with the Melbourne Tigers (1984-2005) and winning their Most Valuable Player award seven times.

Gaze’s stellar career includes NBA seasons with the Washington Bullets (1994) and San Antonio Spurs (1999). The Spurs’ victory that year earned him a famed NBA championship ring. He is third in all-time in career points scored in International Basketball Federations (FIBA) World Cup history, and in 2013 was inducted into the International Basketball FIBA Hall of Fame.

He was the flag-bearer at the Opening Ceremony of the 2000 Olympics, captaining the Australian team. He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2002. In 2022, Andrew was elevated to legend status in the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame, just the sixth person to receive the highest honour in the sport.

Olympian and Former Captain of the Opals

Jenna O’Hea is a star of Australian women’s basketball, captaining the Opals at the 2018 World Cup, taking silver; the 2019 Asia Cup, where they won bronze; and the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. Her superb team skills have made her the lead player for assists at international level and saw her start with the gold-medal winning Opals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Along with representing Australia, O’Hea has travelled the world competing in the Women’s National Basketball Association with the Los Angeles Sparks and Seattle Storm in the USA, and in France with Arras Pays d’Artois Basket Féminin. In the Australian Women’s National Basketball League, the towering forward was a three-time WNBL Championship player and has been named an All-Star Five on six occasions. In 2019, she was awarded life membership of the WNBL. Jenna is a strong advocate for mental health awareness and currently coaches with Basketball Victoria.

Olympian

To win the Queen of Crankworx mountain bike title is no mean feat. Think four countries, five months, multiple disciplines and 25 relentless events. Australia’s dual BMX Olympian Caroline Buchanan has been crowned Queen – twice. Not only that: she is an eight-time BMX and Mountain Bike World Champion, an 11-time Australian BMX champion, and has been named Australian Female Mountain Bike Rider of the Year three times.

Buchanan’s BMX and mountain biking career has taken her across the globe competing at the highest international level. She excels in pump track Mountain Biking, dominates the Dual Slalom, and loves speed and style. She was Australian Cyclist of the Year in 2013.

She lives by the motto “overcoming what life throws at you makes you stronger”, no surprise given she has survived a life-threatening car accident and countless professional spills. An author and mentor, she is a forceful proponent for young women in sport.

BMX champion

Ryan “R Willy” Williams from the Sunshine Coast has more than seven million social media followers, is a five-time Nitro World Games Champion, and the only person to win three consecutive gold medals in BMX Big Air at the X Games. He had a passion for action sports from the age of eight after his first visit to a local skatepark.

Williams got his first taste of high-adrenaline fun with a pair of rollerblades. After taking up BMX racing he was drawn to the thrills of freestyle BMX’s jumps and flips. In 2005, he found his calling when he began riding scooters and later began honing his freestyle skills on a BMX bike. Soon he was progressing in scooter and BMX simultaneously.

After seeing an online video of his scooter riding, Williams received an invitation from Nitro Circus to show the crew his skills and soon became a hit. He has put his skills to the test against the world’s best in international competition, taking home numerous Nitro World Games Best Trick titles including Best Trick for scooter, as well as two BMX Best Trick. He is the first athlete since 2006 to win three BMX X Games medals at a single X Games.

Skateboard & BMX Expert

Mitch Tomlinson hails from Newcastle and is passionate about action sports. Since his early years he has been immersed in the worlds of BMX, surfing, skateboarding and snowboarding.

These pursuits have taken him on a global journey. Over the years, as he travelled with his beloved boards, Tomlinson ventured into live-event commentary. This unexpected turn led to invitations to host and provide commentary for snow, surf and skate events in Australia and around the world.

Along with being co-founder of Life Without Andy (Youth Pop Culture Platform), Mitchell has lent his presenting and commentary talents to various skateboarding, surfing and snowboarding events and shows, in addition to his Olympic duties which began in 2014. He has also been a host and presenter on action sports such as XGames, Street League, Vans Park Series, Burton Open, NZ Winter Games, Rush TV, Fuel TV and more.

Boxing commentator

A 34-year media veteran, Andy Raymond is one of Australia’s most accomplished and recognisable faces in sports broadcasting.

He has been the soundtrack of Australian boxing during a golden era for the sport, commentating on thousands of bouts and many world championships. Versatility has also seen him covering a range of sports outside the boxing ring. Raymond is sharp, energetic, and a little cheeky at times too.

The grassroots nature of Olympic boxing is close to his heart, and he’ll bring the moments that matter to life as we cheer on the Aussie boxers in Paris.

Olympian and World Champion

He might have been born in the UK, but whitewater legend Richard Fox has had an inestimable impact on Australian canoeing. Leveraging a sporting career that reached the pinnacle of competitive canoeing, he was not only pivotal in international efforts to ensure slalom remained part of the Olympic program, but did it as the Sydney Olympics approached, leading to development of the Penrith Whitewater Stadium.

In a sporting career spanning 15 years in Britain, Fox was a 10-time world
champion (five times in the K1 individual event and five times as part of the K1 team). He was the World Cup Series winner three times and won the then equivalent of the European Championship four times. He finished fourth in the K1 Slalom at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and was awarded an MBE for services to British sport in 1986.

He moved to Australia in 1998 to take up the position of head coach with Australian Canoeing. He was team leader with the Australian Olympic Committee from 2000 to 2016, attending five Olympic Games, and vice-president of the International Canoe Federation. Richard stretched the talents of Australia’s emerging canoeists as national performance director for Australian Canoeing 2005-16. In 2023, he was inducted into the Paddle Australia Hall of Fame and is now working to redevelop the Penrith Whitewater Stadium.

Nine Radio commentator

In a broadcasting career spanning over 16 years, Shane McInnes has cemented himself as a versatile, knowledgeable and accomplished broadcaster across multiple Olympics. He was in London in 2012 and Rio in 2016 and also covered the Tokyo 2020 Games, bringing listeners on Nine Radio all the colour and excitement.

In the lead-up to Paris 2024, he has worked as lead commentator on some of the nation’s biggest swimming meets. Listeners to 3AW in Melbourne will be familiar with his weekly commentary on AFL matches, while he also appears as a regular fill-in host on Afternoons and Drive, and makes appearances on Today.

McInnes is a respected voice at Melbourne Park every January at the Australian Open, as well as trackside at the Australian Formula One Grand Prix,
commentating and presenting on two of the nation’s biggest annual sporting events for Nine Radio. He has reported from other global events including Commonwealth Games (2014, 2018) and multiple Super Bowls.

Earlier this year he was also awarded a prestigious Quill Award for his work on Nine Radio, highlighting his versatility and ability to host and broadcast across major sport and news events.

World Champion and Olympian

Cyclist Kate Bates knows a bit about chasing down the competition. The dual Olympian (Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008) claimed back-to-back wins in the individual pursuit in the World Cup in 2003 and 2004, then smashed all comers the following two years, winning three more World Cup titles, multiple Australia National Track Championships, and race stages in punishing events in the USA, Canada and Europe.

She took Commonwealth gold in points events in 2002 and 2006 and was World Points Race Champion in 2007. Bates first raced for Australia at age of 16. Two years later she was Australian Female Cyclist of the Year. As a pro she rode with prestigious Dutch and American teams. Chasing her third Olympics, she sustained a serious back injury and was forced to retire. She has stayed close to the sport she loves, providing insight and expert commentary for broadcasts of major events including the Olympic Games, the Commonwealth Games, World Championships and the Tour De France.

Kate was inducted into the Australian Cycling Hall of Fame in 2019. She is a former board and committee member at Sport Australia, Cycling Australia, Bicycle NSW and Sailing Australia. Today she runs the women’s cycling community’s Chicks Who Ride Bikes.

Commentator & Olympic Gold Medallist

It’s hard to think of a more resilient athlete than cyclist Scott McGrory. This is the world-class madison rider who pushed through the final 50 punishing laps of the 1999 World Championship two-man event alone after a heavy fall by his riding partner, Brett Aitken. His gripping ride qualified the pair for the Olympic Games Sydney 2020. Then, just 10 weeks from the Opening Ceremony, Scott’s infant son Alexander died. In the face of adversity the pair fought through heartbreak to win gold in one of the most inspiring performances in Olympic history.

Post-Sydney, McGrory returned to professional cycling, establishing himself as a relentless competitor on the cutthroat international cycling circuit. He emerged as a specialist in the Six Day event, winning five Six Day races in Europe in 2001 and 15 in total. His achievements include victories in multiple Australian Championships, stage wins in the gruelling Tour Des Pyrenees, Olympic bronze (Seoul 1988) and silver in the 1996 World Championships.

Scott retired from cycling in 2005, turning to a career as a broadcaster, coach and race director. He provided specialist commentary for the Olympic Games in London, Rio and Tokyo, and for three Commonwealth Games. He was inducted into the Cycling Hall of Fame in 2019.

The Voice of Cycling

Phil Liggett – The Voice of Cycling – is the world’s pre-eminent cycling broadcaster. He has commentated on 51 Tour de France races, 16 Olympic Games and major cycling events across the globe, including Australia’s Tour Down Under. His race calls are lauded for their emotion, expertise and passion, and has a long history with Channel 9 that stretches back to the 1990 Commonwealth Games.

Liggett’s career in cycling started as a promising amateur rider. He turned down an invitation to turn pro with a team in Belgium, lured instead to the world of journalism – a decision that has seen him work for major American networks including the ABC, NBC and CBS, and in the UK for ITV, The Telegraph, The Observer, The Guardian, BBC radio and Channel 4.

He was the youngest person to be appointed a commissaire of the world governing body for cycling, the International Cycling Union, responsible for ensuring competitive cycling events ran smoothly, fairly and within the rules. In 2005, he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to cycling. In 2007, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award by the US Hall of Fame, and in 2009 he was inducted into the British Cycling Hall of Fame.

Phil lives in the UK and spends several months each year on his wildlife reserve in South Africa. He is patron of the Helping Rhinos organisation, which aims to keep rhinos safe in their natural environment.

Tour de France Winner and Olympian

Cadel Evans is the only Australian to win the prestigious Tour de France. His 2011 victory ended Australia’s long drought in the iconic 3600km race and remains one of this nation’s greatest sporting feats. It came after two second placings (2007, 2008) and confirmed Cadel’s place as Australia’s greatest road cyclist.

The four-time Olympian (London 2012, Beijing 2008, Sydney 2000, Atlanta 1996) has one of world cycling’s great CVs, being in an elite group of riders to finish on the podium in all the Grand Tours (Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana) and also win the World Championships Road Race, triumphing in Switzerland in 2009. Prior to switching to road racing, Evans was a two-time winner of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, with his mountain bike handling skills proving a major asset during an illustrious road career. He won the Sport Australian Hall of Fame 2011 Don Award – for the athlete that most inspired the nation – and was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2020.

He was made a member of the Order of Australia in 2013 and is the force behind the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.

Cycling Broadcaster

Sports journalist and broadcaster Sophie Smith got hooked on professional cycling when she was assigned the round as a cadet. Now, with 16 years of experience reporting for major media outlets, she has done 11 Tours de France, five UCI Road World Championships, the Giro d’Italia, spring classics, London 2012, the UCI Track World Championships, Tour Down Under, Tour of California, Tour of Britain, UAE Tour, Tour of Oman, Saudi Tour and more.

Every year Smith travels the world to cover professional races for major Australian, UK and US media. She is the author of Pain and Privilege: Inside Le Tour, a book that goes deep into the sacrifices made to compete in the Tour de France and talks to team staff, sports scientists, psychologists, media and dignitaries to draw a complex and confronting portrait of one of the world’s grandest sporting spectacles.

Olympic Diver

Sam Fricker is an Australian diver who competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Fricker is also a Commonwealth Games medalist and was awarded the Australian Sports Medal by the Governor of New South Wales.

On social, Fricker has over 6.6 million followers and accrues over a billion views annually. In 2024, he started the Diving Deep Podcast, where he interviews high performers about their success, challenges, and the skills they use to overcome adversity. Notable guests include the former Prime Minister of Australia and television host Osher Günsberg

Sam has a deep passion for environmental sustainability. At just 16, he founded Sam’s Straws to combat the environmental impact of single-use plastics with eco-friendly wheat straws. In addition to this, he is an ambassador for the Starlight Foundation, Clean-Up Australia, and the Australian Olympic Committee’s Change-Makers Youth Forum.

Legendary Cricketer & Wide World of Sports Broadcaster

Former captain of the Australian Cricket Team, Mark Taylor was a masterful opener and slip fielder. A reliable left-hander, he made 839 Test runs on his first England tour in 1989, and for most of his 104 Tests remained reassuringly solid.

He took over the captaincy from Allan Border in 1994-95 and displayed tactical vibrancy that, the following year, saw Australia topple the West Indies in the Caribbean to become unofficial world champions. Taylor’s leadership and diplomacy marked him as one of Australia’s greatest captains.

Taylor has dedicated his life to sport and his family. He grew up in the sports-mad Riverina region of NSW, playing Aussie Rules, rugby league and cricket. In retirement, he is still passing judgement at the top level. He has been a cricket commentator with Nine for well over 20 years, and is a regular panel member on Wide World of Sports.

He was named Australian of the Year in 1999 and his portrait was hung in the 2000 Archibald Prize.

Nine Radio commentator

Adam Papalia began his radio career as a sports producer at 6PR Perth in 2007. He then moved from producing to an AFL commentary role with 6PR, spending three seasons in Melbourne.

Adam’s commentary has been heard around the country through 6PR and Fox Footy. He is currently the host of Wide World of Sports in Perth, 6PR’s Sports Director and lead AFL caller.

Former Matildas midfielder and renowned commentator

To call Grace Gill a trailblazer is no overstatement: she remembers her playing days when women’s football was lucky to have one game a week on the ABC to miniscule crowds. Fast forward to the Matildas’ FIFA Women’s World Cup campaign in 2023, which inspired millions of girls and fans who heard Grace’s voice in homes across Australia, with her insightful commentary and analysis.

Gill’s move to the media has proved a remarkable success. The former Matilda made 58 appearances for Canberra United in the Australian W-League, games with Slovácko in the Czech Women’s First League. The former midfielder has since been part of commentary teams covering the A-League men’s and women’s competition as well as the FIFA World Cup. She’s able to put herself into the shoes of the sport’s household names, whether they’re injured or elated. Paris 2024 will be Grace’s first Olympics.

Wide World of Sports commentator

Brenton Speed is one of the most versatile sports commentators in Australia. He is the only person to provide television commentary for a national audience on NRL, AFL, A-League, cricket, basketball and tennis.

Speed’s versatility has also been highlighted across three Olympics. In Rio in 2016 he called Kim Brennan’s gold medal in the women’s singles sculls and was also behind the microphone for the Canoe Sprint and Matildas’ matches.

In Tokyo in 2021, he called the Matildas’ memorable run to the medal rounds and was alongside Kerri Pottharst calling the women’s beach volleyball team of Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar as they made it all the way to the gold medal match.

Olympian, AFLW star & Commentator

In a hockey career characterised by grit, determination and raw good humour, Georgie Parker played more than 100 internationals with the Hockeyroos, including the Olympics (Rio 2016) and the World Cup. She was part of the sizzling outfit that won gold at both the Commonwealth Games and Oceania Cup and reached the final of the World Cup.

Parker’s understanding of world-class sport, combined with a sparkling personality, opened opportunities off the hockey field as well. She has been the go-to for hockey commentary at major global events including the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games. She expanded this role at Beijing 2022, co-hosting the late-night segment and transforming it into must-see television.

In 2017, without a single AFL game to her name, Georgie’s famed speed and athleticism led to a contract to play AFLW with Collingwood. She has since become a regular host and commentator for AFL. Georgie is an ambassador for the charity Cycle 4 Sam, which raises money for the families of those who have children in palliative care.

Commentator

Will Davies is a sports commentator, host and reporter who has covered the past six Olympic Games and was pitch-side for Australia’s silver medal in men’s hockey at Tokyo 2020 and gold medal in rugby sevens at the Rio Games.

He was the lead hockey reporter for the IOC’s News Service in Rio and Tokyo, enjoying an almost unrivalled vantage point for the highs and lows of Australia’s past two campaigns. Beyond hockey he has covered blue-riband Olympic events across swimming, athletics, rugby sevens, basketball and beach volleyball, and winter sports such as ice hockey, alpine skiing, snowboard halfpipe, moguls, cross country skiing, bobsleigh, skeleton and luge.

Davies has commentated on hockey for international networks and for the International Hockey Federation, and most recently can be heard on Nine and Stan’s rugby union coverage.

Olympic Gold Medallist

A lynchpin of the fabled “Oarsome Foursome” that captured Australia’s hearts by winning gold at the 1992 Barcelona and 1996 Atlanta Olympics, James Tomkins is Australia’s greatest-ever sweep rower. Not only that: he is the only rower in the world to win world titles in all five sweep events.

He is one of just eight Australians to compete in at least six Olympic Games, and
in 2012 was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame. He stands a towering 201cm (6’7” – as tall as fellow commentator and basketball champion Andrew Gaze). At the beginning of his sporting career he had to choose between rowing and AFL after being recruited by the Melbourne Demons in the 1989 pre-season draft.

His career highlights include the two Olympic gold medals with the Oarsome Foursome and then more gold in the pairs at the Athens 2004 Games, along with several World Championship successes. He also notched up 15 wins in Australia’s pre-eminent rowing event, The Kings Cup.

Tomkins was Australia’s flag-bearer at the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympics and was awarded an OAM for his contribution to rowing in 1997. He was on the Australian Olympic Committee and a member of the International Olympic Committee Athlete Commission between 2012 and 2021. He was named the Victorian Father of the Year in 2008.

Olympic Commentator

It began with a scholarship for young race callers and brilliant potential to make
his mark in the sport of kings. It has since burgeoned into a career that has made Matt Hill the No.1 caller in Victorian racing and taken him around the globe at the microphone for some of the most prestigious sporting events in the world. From the Melbourne Cup, our nation’s iconic Stawell Gift and Britain’s epic Grand National to tennis, AFL and alpine skiing, Hill is the voice that has delivered riveting on-air calls to millions of sport tragics around the world.

Paris 2024 will be his seventh Summer Olympics. He cites Mo Farrah’s astounding, come-from-the back win in the 5000m in London, a call that topped 15 minutes, as the highlight of his career. As well as track and field, he has called Olympic competition in athletics, equestrian, rowing, modern pentathlon, tennis, speed skating and curling, and has also been a key member of broadcast teams for two Paralympics, the Youth Olympics in Singapore in 2010, the Commonwealth Games and the Southeast Asian Games. In 2019, Matt was awarded the Bert Wolfe Award for broadcasting excellence.

Paralympic Gold Medallist

Annabelle Williams is a Paralympic gold medallist, international motivational speaker, diversity and inclusion advocate, TV presenter, lawyer and board director.

Williams captained the Australian Paralympic swim team and managed to balance sport with a successful and demanding corporate career as a lawyer. She competed in two Paralympic Games, broke five world records and won numerous medals for Australia, including gold at the London 2012 Paralympics.

She was a Mergers and Acquisitions lawyer at top-tier law firm Allens Linklaters and in-house counsel for the Australian Olympic Committee. A strong advocate for the rights of athletes, at the age of 24 she was awarded with the prestigious Medal of the Order of Australia for her service to sport. Annabelle is the founder and CEO of Grit & Gold, a director of Bond University, a member of the World Athletics Disciplinary Tribunal and the International Cricket Council Code of Conduct Commission.

She was formerly a board member of Swimming Australia and vice-president of the board of Paralympics Australia. She graduated from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, and has hosted and commentated on numerous swimming championships, the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Games, as well as the Gold Coast 2018 and Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Stan Sport Commentator

Sean Maloney has parlayed stints as a lock for the Manly rugby club and the NSW Under-19 and 21 squads into his high-profile role as Stan Sport’s voice of rugby. He has been commentating on rugby for more than a decade, including the World Sevens Series, World U20 Championship, and the holy grail of the sport, the World Cup.

Known for his humour and colourful calls, Maloney also co-hosts the podcast Between Two Posts and can also be found surfing on Sydney’s Northern Beaches.

Rugby Sevens Expert

What started as determination to show her brothers, NRL stars Wes and Kevin, she could do anything has blossomed into an international rugby career for Sera Naiqama. The Australian-born Fijian lock boasts 10 caps, played in the 2021 Rugby World Cup and debuted for the Wallaroos in 2022. Away from the international stage, she plays for the NSW Waratahs in the Super W competition.

Along the way, Sera – who has previously worked in marketing and communication – has parlayed her standout rugby skills into a broadcasting career as an insightful and articulate commentator. She works as an expert panellist with Stan Sport and ABC television, drawing on knowledge gained first in the NSW Schoolgirls 7s and later in the 15-person format with the University of Sydney. Her skill behind the microphone has made her a sought-after host, emcee and pundit on radio and television.

Rugby Sevens Expert

Wallaby number 799 Drew Mitchell is the highest try scorer in rugby World Cup history. Renowned for his speed and agility, he earned 71 caps between 2005 and 2016.

Mitchell began playing rugby as a schoolboy and captained Australia’s under-21 team. As a winger and fullback he scored 14 tries at World Cups and 34 in Test matches, including one on debut against South Africa. His seven World Cup tries
in 2007 set a new Australian record for a single tournament. At home, he played
for the Queensland Reds, the Western Force and NSW Waratahs. He is one of the Waratahs’ top 10 try scorers in Super Rugby history. Drew retired from rugby in 2017.

Olympic Gold Medallist

Mark by name, world-class marksman by nature: simply put, Russell Mark is one of the world’s finest shooters. He has frightening accuracy and a steely nerve. In 1992, he became the first Australian to hit more than 1000 targets in succession (he made it to 1177 hits in a row), breaking his own Australian record of 859 consecutive hits. He has competed at six Olympic Games (1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2008, 2012), a feat that makes him part of an illustrious group surpassed only by equestrian great Andrew Hoy. He took Olympic gold in double trap at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and silver four years later in Sydney. As well, he won two individual World Championships, six World Cup Championships and two World Team Championships.

Mark’s incredible talent made him the first shotgun shooter to win all four of the world’s major individual titles: World Cup, World Cup Final, World Championship and Olympic Games. In the 20 years from 1988 to 2007, he won at least one Australian title each year. In 1997, he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia. In August 2007, he was inducted into the International Shooting Sports Federation Hall of Fame as the greatest double trap shooter of all time, and in 2019 he was nominated to the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.

Russell has coached top shooting teams around the world and is now the trap coach of Australia’s shotgun team.

Wide World of Sports Commentator

Peter Psaltis, an esteemed sports broadcaster and seasoned rugby league commentator, has forged a distinguished career spanning nearly three decades, with over two of those spent at Brisbane’s 4BC.

Currently at the helm of 4BC’s Wide World of Sports show, he also lends his voice to Nine’s NRL coverage and serves as a tennis commentator for the network. Beginning his radio journey in 1997, Peter swiftly progressed from a panel operator for the Continuous Call Team to a valued panellist on programs like Peter Dick Afternoons and Greg Cary’s Drive.

Venturing into sports commentary, Peter discovered his calling in football alongside Rod Tiley and Trevor Gillmeister in 2002. The following year saw him join esteemed colleagues, including John McCoy, Wally Lewis, and Brett Kenny, establishing

himself as a definitive voice in Brisbane Broncos game broadcasts on 4BC. Peter has brought his expertise to coverage of numerous major events, including the Olympic and Commonwealth Games.

Pro-Skater

When skateboarding debuted at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Perth native and pro-skater Nick Boserio was there to explain the sport’s high-octane moves to the masses. A legend in the world of skateboarding, his style is fast, furious and fearless. Every handrail, every concrete slope, every sharp-angle road is a playground, and Nick is always ready to play.

He was born in England and lived around the world as a child before settling in Perth, then Melbourne, and on to the USA, before returning to Australia.

Boserio is part of Nike Skateboarding and pro for the skateboard brand Polar Skate Co. His videos, with their gravity-defying tricks and spills, have been watched by millions of people around the world. Unconventional and powerful on the board, he is known for skating the seemingly unskateable. Just as powerful is his contagious charisma and enthusiasm for the sport.

Commentator

Will McCloy is a sports presenter, commentator and emcee who has worked across most major global sport events, including multiple Olympic and Commonwealth Games, World Cups, F1 Grands Prix, golf and tennis majors and international netball, as well as a range of niche sports from bull-riding to Padel.

An Australian national representative himself, McCloy’s keen interest in triathlon resulted in him taking on the role of host and lead commentator of SuperTri, the short course triathlon world series, since its inception in 2017. Broadcast on 50

networks including BBC, ESPN and DAZN to a total of 200 territories across five continents, in season eight each round of SuperTri is now watched by over
20 million people.

Will was also executive producer and commentator on the Pho3nix Sub7Sub8 Project, which pitted four of the world’s best endurance athletes against each other as they succeeded in breaking the mythical seven-and eight-hour barriers for the gruelling full-distance triathlon in Germany in 2022. He released his first young adult fiction novel, Before I Slip Away, in 2021.

Olympic Gold Medallist

A powerhouse competitor, Emma Snowsill is one of the most awarded female competitors in the history of International Triathlon Union (ITU). A triple world champion, Emma won gold at the Beijing Olympics and took out the ITU World Cup an astounding 12 times. Taking out grand slams in the USA and World Triathlon Series (WTS) Grand Final in Budapest 2010.

Emma is known for her grace and fortitude – often in the most extreme circumstances. In 2003, she suffered a stress fracture to the femur that put her out of contention for selection in the Athens Olympics. In 2005 in Japan, Emma took vengeance and her second world crown, covering the 1.5km swim, 40km bike ride, and a 10km run in 35 °C temperatures and 90% humidity. In 2006 she became the first female triathlete to win 3 World titles despite contemplating not even starting after not being well. Dominating results in the lead-up to Beijing 2008 she secured her spot early and went on to become an Olympic gold medalist.

Coming up through the junior ranks and part of the AIS development squad, Emma claimed Gold at the Sydney Junior Youth Olympics Festival in 2001. However, her dreams of becoming an Olympian almost disappeared when she considered leaving the sport after the death of her boyfriend, triathlete Luke Harrop, in a tragic hit-and-run when she was just 20. Instead, she found the fortitude of continuing in sport they both loved and she threw herself headlong into training and went on to claim triathlon’s biggest titles. Emma retired from competition in 2014. She was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2009 and was inducted into the ITU Hall of Fame in 2015. Four years later, she was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.