Paris gets an Eiffel of Logan's Games potential

UPDATE: Australian athletes with a link to Logan have stacked up the gold medals at the Paris Olympics!

Shayna Jack and Mollie O’Callaghan both won gold in the Women’s 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay on 2 August and both also took gold in the Women’s 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay on 28 July. The swimmers began their sporting careers in the Greenbank State School pool.

Mollie O’Callaghan also took silver in the Women’s 4 x 100m Medley Relay on 5 Aug, a bronze in the Mixed 4 x 100m Medley Relay on 4 August, the gold in the Women’s 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay on 2 August, and gold in the Women’s 200m Freestyle race on 30 July.

Magnifique! A giant billboard in the centre of Paris on display during the Olympics has a homegrown connection to the City of Logan.

The massive poster promotes the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games in South East Queensland with the words préparez-vous à briller – ‘Get ready to shine’.

It features former Daisy Hill resident and John Paul College student Genevieve Gregson (nee LaCaze).

The 3000m steeplechaser turned marathon runner is contesting her fourth Olympics.

Coincidentally, the other athlete on the poster, Gold Coast para canoeist Curtis McGrath, was guest speaker at the City of Logan Volunteer Awards in May.

Gregson, who now lives in London, said it was ‘an absolute privilege’ to be featured on a billboard in Paris promoting the 2032 Games.

‘To think of my days as a kid running around Daisy Hill Forest and competing for my school John Paul College, to now just days out from my fourth Olympic Games feels like a surreal experience,’ she says.

‘You could never have told me life would unfold this way and I’ll be running so determined and strong while I think of my friends and family from home who helped me get here.’

Above: Paris Olympian Genevieve Gregson in the lead at the Sydney Track Classic in March. Photo: David Tarbotton.

The City of Logan is determined to play a part in the 2032 Games.

As part of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games Minor Venue Program, planning for a new Olympic-standard indoor sports centre in Logan Central is in the final stages of funding review with a decision expected in late September.

A number of athletes set to compete in Paris over the next fortnight are either homegrown or have strong connections to the City of Logan. They include (in alphabetical order):

• Jason Day (Golf): The former World No.1 and 13-time PGA Tour winner, attended Hills International College at Jimboomba.
• Genevieve Gregson (Marathon): The Australian 3000m steeplechase record holder and finalist in the event in Tokyo (she ruptured an Achilles tendon and was unable to finish the event) has now switched to the marathon for what is her fourth Olympics. She grew up in Daisy Hill and attended John Paul College.
• Shayna Jack (Swimming): The sprint freestyle expert and world record relay swimmer first competed in the Greenbank State School 25-metre pool.
• Amanda ‘AJ’ Jennings-Reynolds (Para Archery): The Logan Village mum-of-two was a silver medallist in Para Canoeing in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and contested the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo. Hip replacement surgery after those Games prompted her to try a new sport and now she’s off to Paris to compete in archery.
• Izaac Kennedy (BMX Racing): The world championship finalist first burst onto the BMX racing scene as a teenage member of the Logan City BMX Academy, based at Underwood Park in Priestdale.
• Ashley Lau (Golf): The Malaysian professional and 2016 Australian junior championship runner-up and Victorian Open winner attended Hills International College at Jimboomba.
• Logan Martin (BMX Freestyle): The reigning Olympic champion grew up in Crestmead and helped design Doug Larsen BMX Park in Beenleigh.
• Ash Moloney (Decathlon): The bronze medallist in this event at the Tokyo Olympics is a product of Jimboomba Little Athletics Club and was the 2018 Logan Sportsperson of the Year winner.
• Camryn Newton-Smith (Heptathlon): Australia’s first Olympics heptathlon competitor in 16 years was born in Logan, joined Jimboomba Little Athletics Club as a five-year-old and attended Park Ridge State High School.
• Mollie O’Callaghan (Swimming): The 2023 100m and 200m world champion and dual gold medallist in Tokyo began her swim career in the Greenbank State School pool.
• Samantha Schmidt (Para Discus): The Logan-born thrower holds the Australian Para records in discus, shot and javelin in her F38 class. Her throwing coach Ralph Newton is heptathlete Camryn Newton-Smith’s father and coach.
• Natalie Smith (Para Shooting): The Meadowbrook marksman is heading to her fourth Paralympics and will contest various distances in the women’s rifle events.
• Kristy Wallace (Basketball): The former Loganholme resident and John Paul College student now plays in the WNBA for Indiana Fever and is making her Olympics debut after winning bronze with the Opals at the 2022 World Cup.
• Angela Yu (Badminton): Attended John Paul College and trains at Sky Badminton Centre in Logan Central, which is owned and run by her parents Rosy Tang, who is an Olympic bronze medallist for China and Australia, and Ricky Yu, who represented China and coached the Australian badminton team at the London 2012 Olympics.

Angela Yu, who will contest the women’s doubles event, flew in from Sydney to be farewelled on 18 July at Sky Badminton in Logan Central.

Above: Paris Olympian Angela Yu with her parents Rosy Tang and Ricky Yu, who own Sky Badminton in Logan Central, and her brother Jack.

Dozens of young players and their families gave her good luck cards, gifts and flowers. She was also presented with a cake that was iced to look like a badminton court.

‘I hope seeing me compete in Paris will inspire young kids in Logan to chase their Olympic dreams in 2032,’ Angela says.

Above: Badminton Olympian Angela Yu is farewelled by dozens of young players at Sky Badminton Centre in Logan.

The Paris Olympics are from Friday, 26 July to Sunday, 11 August (although some sports begin from July 24). The Opening Ceremony is from 4am Saturday, 27 July (AEST).

The Paralympic Games are from Wednesday, 28 August to Sunday, 8 September.

• If you know of a Paris Olympian or Paralympian with a Logan connection who we can add to this list, please let us know at communications@logan.qld.gov.au

By Geoff Stead

Photo at top: The Brisbane 2032 billboard in Paris that features Olympian Genevieve Gregson and Paralympian Curtis McGrath.