Most Olympic Games dreams start on the sporting fields around Australia. A new initiative is hoping an unusual location can be the launching pad for the next generation.
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As Australia's gold medal hopes count down the days before the Paris Olympics begins in two weeks, the "We Build Champions" plan is being rolled out in shopping centres around Australia.
The initiative aims to foster interest for Paris 2024 by featuring interactive activities where children can go head-to-head with their Olympic heroes and see if they are at the level of Australia's best.
Eight-time Olympic medallist Petria Thomas endorsed the concept, explaining how watching the initiative is an opportunity inspire the next crop of Canberra talent; however, on a personal level, experiencing children compete against Olympians allowed her to reminisce on her three Olympic campaigns.
"[This initiative] brings back some fond memories for me. It's such a pivotal part of my life which has shaped me. "We all know how much joy sport can bring to people's lives.
"We get saturated with the same sport in Australia. A lot of the sports at the Paralympic and Olympics people don't see very often," Thomas said.
The "We Build Champions" program is part a QIC Real Estate initiative and they have partnered with the Australian Sports Commission to tour eight facilities around the country, including Canberra, Toowoomba, Melbourne and the Gold Coast.
Sports commission boss and Olympic legend Kieren Perkins echoed Thomas' sentiments and hoped getting in front of people in high-traffic shopping centres would spark gold-medal dreams.
"This is a really exciting relationship to bring a bit more attention and activation around the opportunity for everyone to be involved in sport," Perkins said.
"The pride we all feel is amazing, and hopefully [the Paris Games] will be another inspiring moment to give more young Aussies an impetus to want to get physical and be involved.
"You just never know where that might lead on the journey we're all on towards Brisbane 2032."
The Paris opening ceremony will be on July 26. Australians will be sleep deprived over the 16 days of competition, getting up through the night in the hope of seeing an iconic Olympic moment.
Thomas knows that feeling well. She won three gold medals and eight medals overall at her three Olympics. Fast forward 20 years and she is hopeful the Dolphins can repeat a similar performance to what they achieved in Toyko, where the Dolphins won 21 medals, nine of them being gold.
"I know how they're feeling right now," Thomas said.
"But, I really enjoyed watching the trials. The Olympic and Paralympic teams are looking really strong. [I'm keeping my eye out for] Ariane Titmus, Molly O'Callaghan and Kaylee McKewon. So many of them can medal.
"There's going to be some really great racing in Paris."
The Canberra Centre will host the "We Build Champions" initiative until July 21 ahead of the Games.
