Paris-bound Olympic athletes
It is now less than two weeks until 194 of Aotearoa’s best athletes grace the river Seine for the first-ever, on-water opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games.
When this iconic sporting event was last held in the City of Love 100 years ago, only four Kiwis – one woman and three men - earned a place to wear the silver fern.
We are very excited to announce that several AUT alumni and a current student have been selected for the New Zealand Team at Paris 2024.
Our Vice-Chancellor, Professor Damon Salesa, says, “It gives me great joy to announce that three women and two men from the greater AUT alumni and student whānau will wear the silver fern at Paris 2024.
“We are incredibly proud these gifted individuals are set to perform on one of the world’s most prestigious sporting stages and we wish them all the best on their Olympic journey - the fern is all of us | ka tātou katoa,” says Professor Salesa.
A number of AUT alumni are also part of the 200-strong support team behind the New Zealand Team competing at Paris 2024, whose roles span sports performance physiology, performance analysis, nutrition, physiotherapy and strength and conditioning to name a few.
AUT is proud to be the official university of the New Zealand Team at Paris 2024 and was recently ranked equal 28th globally for sports related subjects in the 2024 QS World Rankings by subject.
AUT alumni and students in the New Zealand Team include:
- Tara Vaughan (current student) - Bachelor of Sport & Recreation)
Sport: Sprint Kayaking - Ainsley Thorpe (alumna) – Bachelor of Arts in Event Management
Sport: Triathlon - Greta Pilkington (alumna) – Bachelor of Architecture and Future Environments
Sport: Sailing - Connor Bell (alumnus) – Diploma in Business
Sport: Discus - Kane Follows (alumnus) – Graduate Diploma in Secondary Teaching
Sport: Swimming 200m backstroke
AUT is proud to be the home of New Zealand's top sport and fitness facility, AUT Millennium, and SPRINZ, the country’s leading sports research institute. Our School of Sport and Recreation is one of the largest in New Zealand, with programmes from certificates to doctoral degrees and over 1,000 students, including 100+ research students. Our world-class researchers work with athletes and organisations around the world to advance current practices.