Australia’s best Indigenous athletes will get a chance to shine and make their mark at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

These athletes are breaking through the ranks to qualify for the Australian Olympic team, with funding and support from the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) and its elite arm, the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).

Among the next wave of Indigenous athletes chasing the Olympic dream are basketballers Patrick Mills and Rohanee Cox, boxer Luke Boyd and hockey player Desmond Abbott.

ASC CEO Mark Peters said the ASC’s Indigenous Sport Program (ISP) provides a number of leading initiatives to support the training and development of Indigenous athletes from grassroots to elite levels.

‘The ASC remains committed, through the ISP, to improving the access and opportunities for Indigenous Australians to participate in organised sport and physical activity.

‘We are also working to ensure that Indigenous athletes get every chance to perform well and achieve their best at the Beijing 2008 Olympics and beyond,’ Mr Peters said.

‘The ASC is committed to the ISP’s Elite Indigenous Travel and Accommodation Assistance Program, which gives funding and support to sportspeople such as Patrick Mills to gain experience in competition at the elite level.’

The ISP, through its network, works closely with the ASC’s National Talent Identification and Development (NTID) program to find and develop the next generation of Indigenous athletes across a number of sports, including track and field, boxing, hockey and basketball.

Indigenous athletes have a rich and proud history of representing Australia at Olympic and Commonwealth Games, world championships, and various football codes, and since its establishment in 1981, the AIS has supported the training and development of more than 100 Indigenous athletes.

Who will ever forget Catherine Freeman lighting the Olympic flame in Sydney and her famous win in the final of the 400 metres.

Many other AIS Indigenous athletes have enjoyed success at Olympic level, including Australia’s first Indigenous Olympic gold medallist, former Hockeyroo Nova Peris, and Kyle Vander-Kuyp, a finalist at the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games in the 110-metre hurdles.

They are inspiring role models for the next generation of talented AIS Indigenous athletes progressing through the elite pathways.

Talented Indigenous athletes chasing the Olympic dream