The Paris 2024 Games won’t just be remembered for Australia’s incredible sporting achievements, but also for the team’s commitment to the values that underpin win well – community, care and belonging.
Win well is at the heart of the Australian High Performance 2032+ Sport Strategy – Australian sport’s united roadmap to sustainable success in the leadup to Brisbane 2032 and beyond.
Since December 2022, 51 leading sports and sporting organisations have made the pledge to win well, which acknowledges wellbeing being the foundation of sustainable success, and to balance ambitious performance goals with a culture of care, integrity and fair play.
Yarn Up by artist, two-time Olympian and proud Dunghutti man Brad Hore. Yarn up represents the coming together of past, present and emerging. Yarning Circles encourage sharing, knowledge, connection and advice. The Yarning Circle in the middle highlights that the athletes, coaches and team are supported by our past, our 60 known Indigenous Olympians who provide connection to home and culture. Together it shares the stories and knowledge that propels our athletes forward, represented by the kangaroo, emu and ancestral footsteps. The green evolving shapes represent our countries sporting teams, ever evolving into something greater than they were before and supported by the many around them. This artwork is to remind you, you are not alone, you have wisdom, strength and encouragement all around you.
Former athletes and two members of the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Sport Wellbeing and Engagement team, Para Sport Athlete Wellbeing and Engagement (AW&E) Consultant Eliza Stankovic-Mowle PLY AM and Community Engagement Adviser Beki Smith OLY, saw firsthand how the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) and Paralympics Australia (PA) enabled win well to flourish in Paris.
“What I really took away was that our Mob chose to be in the shared spaces, hanging out, eating, connecting, sharing the experience,” Smith said.
“It was such a safe and supportive environment. The current group of athletes are a very different breed in the sense of being very conscious of not losing who they are in sport. To them, while sport can be everything and more and the goals set are at a very high standard, their emotional intelligence in separating success and disappointment to their self-worth and value is incredible.
“The concept of winning well is really starting to influence high performance sport in such a beautiful and positive way, and it was amazing to see it firsthand within the Australian Olympic Team.”
Australian flag bearer Madi De Rozario at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
As a proud Indigenous Olympian from the London 2012 Games, Smith said the Yarning Circle, 'Yarn Up', by artist, two-time Olympian and proud Dunghutti man Brad Hore, became the heart of Australia’s home away from home in Paris.
“The Australian allotment was the envy of many other countries, and the Australian Olympic Committee really did create a beautiful home for the athlete,” Smith said.
“Welcoming every Olympian into the Village via the Yarning Circle gave me goosebumps and I had to hold back tears every time. This naturally became the meeting point for sports and athletes to head out to training and competition and often a safe space for athletes to have some time of quiet reflection.”
Stankovic-Mowle, who proudly represented Australia at the Athens and Tokyo Games, said that same connection and belonging continued at the Paralympics, where she supported the athletes as the Wellbeing and Safeguarding Lead.
“The village as a whole was excellent, you could really see the value place on wellbeing through the many initiatives in the village,” she said.
“The Australian allotment really did optimise win well. We felt connected to country and to each other and felt a sense of belonging. I feel there was a culture of care which created a safe environment allowing our team members to thrive.”
To learn more about sport's united commitment to win well, visit the HP 2032+ Strategy website.
