Indigenous athletes seeking gold at Paris Olympics

By Dan Ninham | Special to ICT

This story comes to you from ICT through a partnership with MPR News.

More than 50 Indigenous athletes will compete in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, which begins July 26 and ends Aug. 11.

Some of the competitions for the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, officially branded as Paris 2024, start on July 24. Paris is the main host city with events held at 16 other cities spread across Metropolitan France, plus a site in Tahiti for the surfing competition.

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As the Olympics approaches, it's a great opportunity to celebrate the amazing success of 53 Indigenous athletes.

Meanwhile, the 2024 Paris Paralympics is just around the corner from Aug. 28 to Sept. 8, 2024.

Canada

Justina Di Stasio is representing Canada in wrestling at the Paris Olympics. Her weight class is 76 kilograms (168 pounds). Her hometown is Coquitlam, and she’s a citizen of the Norway House Cree Nation of Manitoba.
Di Stasio was a two-time medalist at the Pan American Games. After winning 75 silver at Toronto 2015, she captured 76 kilogram (165 pound) gold at Lima 2019. She secured her long-desired Olympic ticket at the Pan American Qualifier in February 2024.
According to her website, Di Stasio made five world championship appearances, highlighted by her world title in the 72 kilogram (159 pound) event in 2018. She had missed qualifying for the world championship team in her natural 76 kilogram (165 pound) weight class, so made the decision to drop down a weight category. She had previously won 75 kilogram (165 pound) bronze at the 2017 World Championships.
Di Stasio won 75 kilogram (165 pound) gold at three straight Pan American Championships from 2015 to 2017. After not competing at the continental championships in 2018 or 2019, she returned in 2020 and won another gold medal in the 76 kilogram (165 pound) event. She followed up with bronze medals in 2022 and 2023. Di Stasio won 76 kilogram (165 pound) gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Di Stasio was first exposed to international competition at the 2011 Junior World Championships after she won the first of her back-to-back junior national titles. She was on the podium at the senior Canadian championships in 2012, 2013 and 2014 before winning her first senior national title in 2015.
Indigenous core values provide direction in the elite athletes’ training and competition. Di Stasio told ICT, “Being Indigenous is something I am proud of, and I carry that pride in everything that I do. So I approach training and competition the same; working in a way that no matter what the result is, it is something myself, my coaches and my family can be proud of.”
Indigenous athletes not only represent their country, but they also represent their indigenous people. They are being watched by more people than they’ll ever realize.
“It is exciting to have the chance to show the world that Indigenous people belong in competitive and successful spaces,” Di Stasio said.” We have just as much ability to succeed at the highest level as anyone else, and I am very proud of where I come from and where I have been able to go as an Indigenous athlete.”
Apollo Hess, Blood Tribe, will also be representing Canada as a swimmer. Hess was named to the Paris 2024 Olympic team after placing second in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke at the 2024 Olympic Swimming Trials.
Margo Erlam, Métis, qualified to make her Olympic debut at Paris 2024 when she won the women’s 3-meter springboard event at the Canadian Diving Trials in May 2024. Erlam made her national team debut at the 2017 FINA Grand Prix in Puerto Rico. Her and her partner won the gold medal in the 3-meter synchro event at the 2022 FINA Grand Prix in Calgary. She was named to the 2022 World Aquatics Championships Team. She was also named to Canada’s 2022 Commonwealth Games Team and won a bronze medal in the synchronized 3-meter springboard event.
Shalaya Valenzuela is a member of the Tseshaht First Nation on Vancouver Island. She will be representing Canada on the Rugby Sevens team. In high school, Valenzuela was recognized with the Premier's Award for Indigenous Excellence in Sport.

United States

A spokesperson from the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee recently replied to an ICT question related to Indigenous athlete identification. “It is a complicated matter because we have our athletes self-identify, but at this time, we do not have any athletes who have identified as indigenous.” However, media sources indicate the U.S. will be represented by three Native Hawaiians in surfing, skateboarding and volleyball who have all competed at the prior 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The three Indigenous athletes representing the United States, all Native Hawaiian, are: Carissa Moore, competing in surfing; Heimana Reynolds, also Tahitian, in park skateboarding; and Micah Christenson, competing in volleyball.

The New Zealand team this year, meanwhile, will include more Indigenous athletes than any team in the history of the games, fielding 37 athletes of Māori descent among the 195 Olympians on its team, according to the New Zealand Olympic Committee.

The Australian team has 11 Olympians compared to a record 16 athletes competing in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Carissa Kainani Moore is a Native Hawaiian and American surfer. She was the first ever winner of the Olympic gold medal in women's shortboard surfing at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Moore is also a five-time world champion, winning in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2019 and 2021 on the World Surf League Women's World Tour. She was the first surfer in history to win a World Surf League world title and the Olympic title in the same year.
Moore competed under the U.S. flag for the first time in her career at the 2020 Summer Olympics and was the first surfer to participate in the Olympic Games that is ethnically Hawaiian since the final Olympic appearance of Duke Kahanamoku in 1924.
Micah Makanamaikalani Christenson is an American and Native Hawaiian professional volleyball player who plays as a setter for Zenit Kazan and the U.S. national team. He was a bronze medalist at the Olympic Games Rio 2016 and the 2018 World Championship; the 2014 World League and the 2015 World Cup winner.
His individual awards include: 2013: NORCECA Championship – Best setter; 2013: NORCECA Championship – Best server; 2015: FIVB World Cup – Best setter; 2017: NORCECA Championship – Most valuable player; 2018: FIVB World Championship – Best setter; 2019: FIVB Nations League – Best setter; 2019: FIVB World Cup – Best setter; 2022: FIVB Nations League – Best setter; 2023: FIVB Nations League – Best setter; and 2023: NORCECA Championship – Most valuable player.
Heimana Reynolds is Native Hawaiian and has competed in men's park events at several World Skate Championships, winning silver in 2018 and gold in 2019. At the 2017, 2018 and 2019 X Games, he finished respectively eighth, eighth and sixth. He competed in the men's park event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, finishing 13th, and he’s back wanting to get in the medal round.

Australia

There are 11 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander competitors representing Australia in eight different sports. These Olympians include past Olympic medal winners and newcomers to their first Olympics. They look to perform well for their country and people.

Basketball legend Patty Mills – Kokatha, Naghiralgal and Duaureb-Meriam – is set to become the first Indigenous athlete to compete in five Olympic Games. Mills is an Australian professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the NBA. Mills was born and raised in Canberra. In 2007, he became the third Indigenous basketball player to play for the Australian national team. Mills was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers with the 55th overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft after playing two years of college basketball for the Saint Mary's Gaels.
Taliqua Clancy, a Wulli Wulli and Goreng Goreng woman, will be competing in her third Olympics in Women's Beach Volleyball. Clancy made history in 2016 as the first Aboriginal person to compete in the sport at the Olympics and earned a silver medal in the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Making her Olympic debut is 19-year-old Abbey Connor, who secured her spot by finishing second in the 200-meter butterfly at the Australian trials. At 15 years old she broke a 1978 record for the 200-meter butterfly.
Calab Law, Wakka Wakka, will be making his Olympic debut in athletics as a member of the Australian 4x100-meter relay team. In 2024, he became the 200-meter Australian national champion.
Maurice Longbottom, Dharawal, was also a member of the Australian men's rugby sevens squad at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
In sailing, Conor Nicholas, Whadjuk, will be teaming up with Nia Jerwood to compete in the mixed 470 event. The duo secured their spot after an impressive performance at Sail Sydney and the 470 World Championships in Spain.
Brooke Peris, Ngarrawanji, is an Australian field hockey player and member of the national team the Hockeyroos. In 2014, Peris was awarded the title of “Northern Territory Sportsperson of the Year.” She has represented Australia at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, followed by the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. She is currently one of four co-captains of the national team.
Mariah Williams, Wiradjuri, represented Australia at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The Hockeyroos lost 1-0 to India in the quarterfinals and therefore was not in medal contention.
Aboriginal boxer Callum Peters won gold at the 2023 Pacific Games and will be making his Olympics debut.
Marissa Williamson Pohlman, Ngarrindjeri, will become the first Aboriginal female boxer to fight at the Olympics.
Alex Brooke “Ally” Wilson, Ngarrindjeri, is an Australian professional basketball player for the Perth Lynx of the Women's National Basketball League. In March 2024, Wilson helped the Australia 3x3 team win gold at the 2024 FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup. She was named tournament MVP. She will represent Australia's first 3x3 Olympic team for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

As these 11 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander athletes prepare to compete in Paris, they serve as an inspiration to their communities and the nation as a whole. Their dedication, talent and pride in their heritage make them true ambassadors for Indigenous Australians on the world stage.

New Zealand

New Zealand will be featuring 34 indigenous Olympians, who make up 17 percent of the country’s Olympic team.

Zoe Hobbs, Ngāruahine, is a New Zealand track and field sprinter competing in the 60-meter, 100-meter and 200-meter races. She is the Oceanian indoor record holder for the 60-meter and the Oceanian record holder for the 100-meter. Hobbs was the first Oceanian woman to break the 11-second barrier in the 100-meter. She has won 11 individual New Zealand national titles.
Tyla King, née Nathan-Wong, Ngāpuhi, is a New Zealand international rugby union player, professional rugby league player and Olympian. She won a silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and a gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Stacey Waaka, Ngāi Tūhoe, is a New Zealand rugby union player. She plays 15-a-side and seven-a-side rugby union, and is a member of the New Zealand Women's Sevens team and New Zealand Women's National Rugby Union team. Waaka was a member of the New Zealand Women's Sevens team when it won a gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. She was also a member of the New Zealand 15-a-side team, which won the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup and the 2021 Women's Rugby World Cup.
Sarah Hirini MNZM, née Goss, Ngāti Kahungunu Ki te Wairoa, is a New Zealand women's rugby union player and two-time Olympic medalist. She plays for the New Zealand women's national rugby sevens team, and captained the Manawatu Sevens side that took out the 2013 National Women's Sevens title in Queenstown. She was named in the squad for the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup.
“Risi” Pouri-Lane, Ngāti Kuia/Ngāi Tahu/Ngāti Kōata, is a New Zealand rugby sevens player. She captained the 2018 Youth Olympics squad that won gold in Buenos Aires. She also won gold medals with the Black Ferns sevens team at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Portia Woodman-Wickliffe, Ngāpuhi, is a New Zealand rugby union player. She plays 15-a-side and seven-a-side rugby union, and is a member of the New Zealand women's national rugby sevens team and New Zealand women's national rugby union team. Woodman-Wickliffe was a member of the New Zealand Women's Sevens team that won a gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
In 2023, Manaia Nuku, Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui, played with the New York Locals of the Premier Rugby Sevens, playing alongside Paris 2024 Olympic and Black Ferns teammate Stacey Waaka. She was named the 2023 Premier Rugby Sevens Defensive Player of the Year.
Mahina Paul, Ngāti Pukeko, made her Black Ferns Sevens international debut at the South Africa Sevens in Cape Town in 2019. She played at the 2020 New Zealand Sevens in Hamilton. Paul was named as a traveling reserve for the Black Ferns Sevens squad to the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Dame Lisa Carrington DNZM, Ngāti Porou/Te Aitanga ā Māhaki, is a flatwater canoeist and New Zealand's most successful Olympian having won a total of five gold medals. She won three consecutive gold medals in the Women's K-1 200 meters at the 2012 Summer Olympics, 2016 Summer Olympics and 2020 Summer Olympics, as well as gold in the same event at the 2011 Canoe Sprint World Championships. At the 2020 Summer Olympics she also won a gold medal in the K-2 500 meters, with crewmate Caitlin Regal, and as an individual in the K-1 500 meters.
In 2019 Lucy Matehaere, Ngāti Raukawa, while taking up an academic scholarship to study biochemistry at the University of Otago, won five medals at the Asia Pacific Cup on Lake Karapiro. After placing seventh in the K-1 200 meter and sixth in the K-1 500 meters at the 2020 New Zealand Champs, she was called to join the Auckland-based New Zealand women’s squad.
Kerri Williams, née Gowler, Rangitāne, is a New Zealand rower. She is a national champion, an Olympic champion and double medallist, a three-time world champion and a current (2019) world champion in both the coxless pair and the women's eight.
Olivia Brett, Ngāpuhi, will be competing in the canoe/kayak/sprint in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Kurtis Imrie, Whakatōhea, paddling alongside Max Brown finished eighth in the A Final of the K-2 1,000 meters at the World Cup in Poznan in 2021. Kurtis and Max also qualified a New Zealand K-2 1,000 meters boat at the 2020 Oceania Canoe Sprint Championships in Sydney. Imrie finished runner up to Brown in the NZCT New Zealand Canoe Sprint Championships at Lake Karapiro in May 2021 in the K-1 1,000 meters. The pair teamed up and was selected to represent New Zealand at the delayed 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo in the K-2 1,000 meters where they finished fifth overall.
Kelsey Bevan, Ngāpuhi, is a New Zealand representative rower. She is an Olympian and a 2019 world champion winning the women's eight title at the 2019 World Rowing Championships. She won the gold medal in the coxless four at the 2014 World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam. With the women's eight, she placed fourth at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Jackie Gowler, Rangitāne, won a gold medal as a member of the women's eight team at the 2019 World Rowing Championships, alongside her sister Kerri. She also earned the silver medal at 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Dylan Collier, Whakatōhea, is a New Zealand rugby union and rugby league player. Collier currently plays for Waikato and represents New Zealand in rugby sevens. Collier was part of the All Blacks Sevens squad that won a bronze medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Andrew Knewstubb, Ngāpuhi, is a New Zealand rugby sevens and rugby union player. He represented New Zealand at the 2020 Summer Olympics. He won the gold medal with the New Zealand team in the men's rugby sevens tournament during the 2018 Commonwealth Games. He was also a key member of the New Zealand side that won the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament by defeating England 33-12 in the final. He was named in the New Zealand squad to compete at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the men's rugby sevens tournament. He was also part of the New Zealand side that claimed the silver medal after losing to Fiji 24-12 at the 2020 Summer Olympics. It was also New Zealand's first ever Olympic medal in the men's rugby sevens.
Ngarohi McGarvey-Black, Ngāi Tūhoe, is a New Zealand professional rugby union player who plays as a wing for National Provincial Championship club Bay of Plenty and the New Zealand national sevens team. In 2020 he was named New Zealand Rugby Players Association Players' Player of the Year. He was named in the New Zealand squad for the Rugby sevens at the 2020 Summer Olympics. McGarvey-Black was part of the All Blacks Sevens squad that won a bronze medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. He later competed at the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Cape Town. He won a silver medal after his side lost to Fiji in the gold medal final.
Regan Ware, Ngāti Porou ki Harataunga ki Mataora/Ngāti Korokī Kahukura, is a New Zealand professional rugby union for the New Zealand national sevens team. He later competed at the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Cape Town. He won a silver medal after his side lost to Fiji in the gold medal final.
Joe Webber, Ngāti Ranginui and Waikato, is a player for the New Zealand rugby union sevens team. Webber was part of the All Blacks Sevens squad that won a bronze medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Brady Rush, Ngāti Kahu ki whangaroa, Ngāti Whātua, is a New Zealand professional rugby union player who plays for National Provincial Championship club Northland and the New Zealand national sevens team. Rush was named as a contracted player for the All Blacks Sevens squad in 2021. He was named in the team for the 2022 Singapore Sevens and was to make his debut at the tournament.
Tepaea Cook-Savage, Ngāi Takato, Ngāpuhi, is a New Zealand professional rugby union player who plays for Waikato and the New Zealand national sevens team. He was called up to the New Zealand national rugby sevens team for the first time in December 2022. The following month he signed a two-year contract with the New Zealand Sevens side. He was a member of the New Zealand Sevens team that won the Hong Kong Sevens title in April 2024.
Michael Brake, Ngāti Porou, is a New Zealand rower. He is a dual Olympian and won Olympic gold at Tokyo 2020. In the interim Olympiad, he competed internationally in the coxless pair and won silver at the 2019 World Rowing Championships partnered with Tom Murray. Domestically, he has won seven national premier rowing titles.
For the 2023 international rowing season including that year's world championships, New Zealand's men's coxless four were made up of Ollie Maclean, Logan Ullrich, Ngāi Tahu, Matt Macdonald, and Tom Murray.
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Erika Fairweather, Ngāi Tahu, finished second in her heat of the 400-meter freestyle, breaking the New Zealand record set by Lauren Boyle, with a time of 4:02.28. At the 2023 World Aquatics Championships she finished third in the 400-meter freestyle in the “race of the century,” breaking her New Zealand record with a time of 3:59.59.
Lewis Clareburt, Tainui and Waikato, is a New Zealand swimmer. He is the current 2024 400-meter Individual Medley World Champion (4:09.72) and Commonwealth men's champion for 200-meter butterfly and 400-meter individual medley, having won both events at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. At the 2018 Commonwealth Games and the 2019 World Aquatics championships, he won bronze medals in the men's 400-meter individual medley.
In an electrifying finale to the 2024 New Zealand Swimming Championships, Taiko Torepe-Ormsby, Ngāi Tahu, etched his name in the annals of swimming history by becoming the first-ever New Zealand man to breach the elusive 22-second mark in the men’s 50-meter freestyle.
Tayla Ford, Tainui, is a New Zealand freestyle wrestler. She has competed in three Commonwealth Games, winning two bronze medals. She was the first New Zealand woman to win a Commonwealth Games medal in wrestling. In April 2024, Ford was selected for the New Zealand wrestling team for the 2024 Summer Olympics becoming the first New Zealand woman on an Olympic wrestling team.
Kane Follows, Ngāti Whakaue, will compete in the 200-meter Backstroke at the Paris Olympic Games.
In the Bahamas, Laticia Transom, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Te Rangi, Te Ati Haunui a Pāpārangi Ngāti Raukawa, won two golds (4x200-meter Freestyle Mixed Relay, Girls 200-meter Freestyle), two silvers (Girls 100-meter Freestyle, 4x100-meter Medley Mixed Relay) and a bronze medal (Girls 50-meter Freestyle). On the Gold Coast, she had four top 15 placings.
Samuel Tanner, Ngāpuhi, is a New Zealand middle- and long-distance runner specializing in the 1500 meters. Tanner is the New Zealand indoor record holder for the 1500 meters.
Sam Gaze, Te Āti Awa, is a New Zealand cross-country and road cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Alpecin-Deceuninck. He won the under-23 Cross-Country at the 2016 UCI Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships and the 2017 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships. He also competes on occasion in road-racing events, winning the National Criterium Championships in 2017 and 2018. In August 2019, Gaze joined UCI WorldTeam Deceuninck-Quick-Step as a stagiaire for the second half of the season. For 2020, Gaze joined the Alpecin-Fenix team to contest road and mountain biking events.
Keegan Hornblow, Ngāi Te Rangi, raced for Black Spoke Pro Continental throughout Europe in 2023, with a stage win in the NZ Cycle Classic and podiums in the Oceania time trial, and had a National U23 time trial among some solid performances. Keegan came into the NZ track Nations Cup team in Cairo. He has raced for New Zealand at a range of World Cups and other events, achieving notable results. He is a member of the New Zealand Men’s Endurance Squad.
Isaac Houlbrooke, Ngāi Tahu, received his first call-up to the Black Sticks in 2023. He made his international debut during season four of the FIH Pro League. In 2024, Houlbrooke was a member of the bronze medal-winning squad at the FIH Olympic Qualifier in Muscat, which earned the squad Olympic qualification. He has since been named in the squad for the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh.
Kane Russell, Ngāpuhi, is a New Zealand field hockey player who plays as a defender for German club Hamburger Polo Club and the New Zealand national team.
Ishtar Mackey-Huriwai, Ngāti Porou, has been selected to represent Aotearoa New Zealand in Muay Thai, which was announced as a demo sport in this year’s Olympic Games in Paris.