In our last issue of Lion, we looked back over the history of the modern Olympic Games to pay homage to the incredibly rich history of Old Wesley Collegians who have competed on this biggest of stages in the world of sport. Here we celebrate and share the achievement of our four most recent OW Olympians, who last month competed amongst the world’s best at Paris 2024.
Jemima Montag (OW2016) competed in the 20km race walk in both individual and team events, winning bronze in both... Alanna Smith (OW2014) played in the basketball tournament as a member of the Opals, also winning a bronze medal… and we had both Adam Spencer (OW2019) and Sophie O’Sullivan (OW2019) competing on the track in the 1500m event.
Jemima Montag (OW2016)
Many of us in the Wesley community excitedly watched the Women’s 20km Race Walk unfold over one hour, 26 minutes on a very hot and humid Paris morning, with Jemima leading strongly from the start. She won the bronze in a stand-out performance on a course that criss-crossed the Seine between the Eiffel Tower and the Trocadero. ‘Being in Paris and racing under the Eiffel Tower was just phenomenal,’ she said.
Late in the race, when her mind and body were starting to fatigue, Jemima took heart from a sign she saw her sister Andie (OW2021) holding in the crowd, which read, ‘There’s nothing wrong with being good’, a mantra that was drummed into her and her peers at Wesley by music teacher, Mark Ford.
Jemima now appreciates the intention behind this message. ‘It was about not being afraid to state my ambitions about what I wanted to achieve, and that wanting something is different to needing it,’ she said. ‘It removed the fear of failure and reminded me of who I am, what I was doing and why. I was just so happy to be out there competing in the Olympics.’
Incredibly, six days later she clinched her second bronze with teammate Rhydian Crowley in the inaugural Mixed Relay Race Walk Marathon, which involves one female and one male athlete alternating walking across four stages to cover the full marathon distance of 42.195 km. Her strong finish in the final leg was spectacular. ‘That was the hardest thing I’ve ever done,’ she said. ‘When you’re in a team, there’s so much more pressure as you don’t want to let your friend down!’
Her achievement is notable for another reason: she’s the first Australia woman in more than 50 years to win two athletics medals at the same Games, after Raelene Boyle in 1972. Now a double Olympian, having finished 6th in Race Walk at Tokyo 2020, Jemima came away from Paris ‘feeling satisfied, relieved, and thrilled’ with her Olympic medals.
Adam Spencer (OW2019)
The Paris Olympics was a great experience for Adam. ‘It’s always been a dream of mine to compete,’ he said. ‘I remember watching the 2016 Rio Olympics in the school library and I always thought it would be amazing to represent my country on the world’s biggest stage.’
Throughout his time at Wesley, Adam was a high-achieving middle-distance runner, and he served as Captain of Athletics and Cross Country in his final year. He took his talent to the U.S. College circuit, commencing a finance degree at the University of Wisconsin.
‘Adam had a great balance with study and running at Wesley and continues this at College in the U.S. at Wisconsin,’ says Wesley's Head Coach of Athletics, Tim O’Shaughnessy. ‘He never lost sight of where he came from. It was a privilege to coach him from Year 7 at Wesley.’
Improving his personal bests all the while, last year he clocked a stunning 3:31.81 in the 1500m in the London Diamond League, making him the fourth fastest Australian of all time. Then earlier this year, he overcame tough competition to win the Australian 1500m title and was thrilled to make the Olympic team.
‘It was a long journey to get to the Olympics and it took a village. It was extremely satisfying to fulfil my dreams and made all the hard work worth it,’ he said.
In Paris, Adam ran in the Men’s 1500m race, coming eighth in his first heat, and sixth in his repechage heat. ‘He was the best performing Australian 1500 metre runner at the Olympics,’ said Tim.
‘I didn’t have the dream Olympics I was hoping for,’ said Adam, ‘but I hope to compete in many more major championships and Olympics in the future and bring home medals for Australia.’
Alanna Smith (OW2014)
A key forward in the Opals team, Alanna was thrilled to come away from Paris with an Olympic bronze medal. Losing to the USA in the semi-finals, the Opals played off against Belgium to ultimately win bronze. Alanna was in exceptional form across the tournament, and in a huge nod to her performance on the world stage, was named in the All-Star Five team for Paris 2024, sharing the accolade with two American players, a French player and a Belgian player.
‘Huge congratulations to Alanna Smith and the entire Opals team on their incredible bronze medal win. They fought with true Aussie grit and got the result, I'm so proud of them all,’ said Head of Wesley Basketball, Natalie Porter (OW1998), a former Olympic silver medallist with the Opals.
Reflecting on her own experience at Athens 2004, she said, ‘I know first-hand the immense pride and joy that comes with representing your country on the world stage.’
Like Jemima, Alanna competed at Tokyo 2020 and since then, has continued to forge a hugely successful basketball career with the WNBA. She is currently playing for the Minnesota Lynx.
Sophie O'Sullivan (OW2019)
The daughter of Australian athletics coach Nic Bideau, Sophie is also descended from Irish athletics royalty. Her mother, Sonia O’Sullivan, is a four-time Irish Olympian who won a silver medal over 5000m at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. So it is fitting that Sophie should follow her mother's footsteps and represent Ireland in the Olympic arena.
Sophie competed in the Women’s 1500m in Paris, coming seventh in her first round heat and fourth in her repechage heat, just missing out on progressing into the finals.
Wesley's Head Coach of Athletics, Tim O’Shaughnessy, wasn’t surprised to see Sophie make it all the way to the top. ‘Sophie started at Wesley in Year 5 and in her first race as an 11-year-old, she was fearless, leading the APS Under 14 1500 metres from the gun. At Paris in 2024, she showed the same fearlessness, taking on the world’s best. A tough competitor on the track, but great fun off the track.’
Our whole Wesley community joins in celebrating and congratulating our four OW Paris 2024 Olympians on their amazing achievements. In realising their Olympic dreams, they inspire future generations of Wesley athletes – and us all – to realise our own dreams, whatever they may be.