The 27 Canberra stars you need to follow at the Paris Olympics

Michelle Heyman and Lauren Jackson are two of the best comeback stories of all Olympians this year, while Patty Mills may be preparing for his fifth and final Games campaign.

We've put together a list of who's who from the capital so you can follow their Olympic dream.

Brett Robinson (marathon); Michelle Heyman, Clare Hunt (soccer); Monique Suraci (boxing); Kelsey-Lee Barber (javelin); Catriona Bisset (athletics); Jesse Moore (artistic gymnastics); Michael Matthews, Rebecca Henderson (cycling) Andrew Charter (hockey); Corey Toole, Sharni Smale (rugby); Bronte Campbell (swimming); Patty Mills, Lauren Jackson, Jade Melbourne, Marianna Tolo (basketball); Alex Purnell, Spencer Turrin, Jack Hargreaves, Alex Hill, Joseph O'Brien, Joshua Hicks, Fergus Hamilton, Jack Robertson, Simon Keenan, Patrick Holt (rowing).

Michelle Heyman is one of the best comeback stories of the Paris Olympics. Heyman was done with soccer in 2019. Five years later she will line up for the Matildas at the Olympics after being recalled to the national team last year. The Canberra United captain is the greatest goal-scorer in A-League Women's history and she will be a key part of the Matildas' hopes of winning their first major international medal.

Clare Hunt is Heyman's former Canberra teammate. She spent her junior years in the Canberra United academy system before getting an A-League Women's call up. Now she is a star for Paris Saint-Germain and has established herself as one of the most important Matildas in the back line.

Rebecca Henderson is about to become a four-time mountain bike Olympian - one of only three female cyclists in Australian history to achieve the feat. But this will be her best chance of forcing her way into the medals. Her form as been superb in recent years, winning multiple World Cup events and finishing second on the overall standings two years ago. The Olympics, though, haven't been a happy hunting ground for her. The memory of her struggles in Tokyo three years ago - where she finished 28^th - will be fuelling her hopes of a surprise podium spot.

Michael Matthews - or better known as "Bling" - will race just nine days after after finishing the Tour De France. The 33-year-old will be making his Olympic debut in Paris. He's a former Tour de France Green Jersey winner and is a world championship bronze medallist. He will be in the mix when it comes to the road race and time trial in Paris.

The Kookaburras are favourites to medal in Paris after they won the FIH Pro-League last month and Andrew Charter will play an influential role at the back. He is a three-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist and an Olympic silver medallist, but he wants to go one step further. He was a star at Tokyo and saved three penalties in the semi-final, but still missed his ultimate goal. Charter has overcome injury to get back in the side for the Paris Games.

Starting her record-breaking career at the Weston Creek Redbacks Little Athletics, Catriona Bissett has been one of Australia's best 800 metre runners for some time. However, in 2019 Bissett wasn't even taking her running seriously, deciding to focus on architectural studies instead. The break from running inspired her to put on her running shoes again and now she prepares for her second games, running the 800 metres constantly under two minutes in the lead up to the tournament. Across the past three years since Tokyo, she has broken Australian records and improved on her personal bests, seeing her ranked seventh in the world for the event currently. In 2022 and 2023 she made the semi-finals of the 800 metres at the world championships.

Patty Mills has been the heart and soul of the Boomers almost since his Olympic debut 16 years ago. He led the team to a historic bronze medal - or "rose gold" as the Australian team dubbed it. The NBA veteran has an incredible individual record at the Olympics and will be aiming to add to that at what will most likely be his final Games campaign.

In the women's team, Canberra Capitals skipper Jade Melbourne will make her debut, former Canberra captain Marianna Tolo is going to be a key starter and veteran Lauren Jackson is making her Olympic comeback eight years after injury forced her to retire. The Opals hope the return of Jackson and the rise of players like Melbourne will put them back in medal contention for the first time since 2012.

Monique Suraci is preparing for her debut Olympics in Australia's largest-ever boxing team, going into the competition with stellar form winning 13 out of 16 fights last year. Suraci has her eyes set on gold in the lightest weight division at the Games. Injuries and COVID-19 denied her a spot in the Tokyo team. Suraci started boxing when she was six because her dad wanted her five sisters and her to be prepared for any situation.

Corey Toole would look at home among the 100 metre sprinters in Paris, but instead he'll be lighting up the rugby field. One of the quickest - if not the quickest - players in Super Rugby, Toole has made the switch from the Brumbies back to the sevens format for the Olympics. If his past form is anything to go by, he'll be one of the best players in Paris. In his 2021-22 sevens season, he scored 43 tries in 46 games.

Sharni Smale is the veteran of the women's side and one of the only remaining players from the gold medal-winning team from 2016. Smale moved from Batlow to Canberra as a youngster and traded hockey for rugby when she joined Royals. It started a sparkling career that has taken Smale across the world, but she will retire from sevens duties after the Olympics.

Brett Robinson is heading to his third Olympics and is doing it in arguably the hardest event at the Games - the marathon. After starting his Olympic career in the 5000 metres race in Rio, Robinson switched to the longer distance and has found his feet. He broke Robert de Castella's long-standing Australian marathon record two years ago and broke it again not long after.

Dual world champion Kelsey-Lee Barber has had a frustrating and injury-interrupted build up to the Paris Games. While her rivals have been competing around the world, Barber has been trying to get her body and mind right to chase Olympic gold. She won bronze in Tokyo three years ago, but hasn't been able to capture that form again as she battled calf and elbow problems.

Two-time Olympic gold medallist Bronte Campbell relocated to Canberra last year to give herself the best chance of making the Paris team. After an 18-month break following the Tokyo Games, the Canberra move has been the perfect tonic and at 30 years old, she's breaking the mould in a pool which is usually dominated by youngsters.

Jesse Moore has always been splitting, tumbling and flipping since he was a kid in Adelaide, and now he's competing in his debut Olympics after winning the all-round artistic gymnastics section at the Oceania continental championships in May. Moore moved to Canberra to train at the AIS and study at the University of Canberra and he has dominated in recent years. His specialities are the horizontal bars and pommel horse.

Ten Canberra-based rowers will bolster the 37-strong Australian team in pursuit of gold medals at the Paris Olympics.

Alex Purnell, Spencer Turrin, Jack Hargreaves and Alex Hill are chasing another gold medal after ending a 25-year wait in Tokyo, where Purnell could be heard yelling "Raiders" as they held off the fast-finishing Romanians on their way to the line.

Now Purnell, Hargreaves and Turrin move into the men's coxless eight, joining a group including Canberra's Joseph O'Brien and Joshua Hicks.Hill will chase another gold in the coxless four alongside Canberra's Fergus Hamilton and Jack Robertson, while Simon Keenan and Patrick Holt combine in the men's coxless pair.