Sharjah24 – Reuters: Australia will take 472 athletes to the Tokyo Olympics, the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) announced on Monday, the country's second largest team for an overseas Summer Games. Some of the 254 women and 218 men who will compete in 33 sports are already in Japan making their final preparations for the Games, which were postponed for a year because of the global health crisis.
While only 51 indigenous Australians have represented the country over 28 previous Summer Games, tennis world number one Ash Barty headlines a record 16 Aboriginal athletes in the team for Tokyo.
Mary Hanna, 66, will become Australia's oldest Olympic competitor, while her fellow equestrian athlete Andrew Hoy will be competing in a national record eighth Games at the age of 62.
Swimmer Mollie O'Callaghan, at 17, is the youngest member of the party and one of 294 Australians making their Olympic debut in Tokyo.
The softball team arrived in Japan on June 1 to play warm-ups against local professional teams and will be the first Australian athletes to compete in the Games when they take on hosts Japan on July 21, two days before the opening ceremony.
In a sign of the times, the Australians will ship 75,000 disposable face masks and 544 bottles of hand sanitizer to Japan for use of their delegation, which totals 990 people with the inclusion of officials and coaches.
For an optimal experience, please
