- Athletes win record medals at Paris Games
- The return flight was planned to be a celebration and a total party.
- However, they were booked on a dry flight and the atmosphere was much calmer.
They won the most Olympic medals in Australian history, but our athletes didn’t even get to enjoy a glass of champagne to celebrate after being sent home on a dry flight from Paris to Perth.
The Australian team made history at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, setting a new national record with 18 gold medals and a total of 53 medals.
They also achieved their most successful day, taking home four gold and two bronze medals.
The 460-member Olympic team returned to Sydney on Wednesday morning, where they were greeted by a huge crowd of enthusiastic fans and an official ceremony was held in their honour.
But there were no shoes, no champagne celebrations, not even a light beer for any of the athletes after their Herculean feats in Paris.
Speaking to Nova 100’s Jase and Lauren, double gold medalist Ariarne Titmus revealed that the flight home was from a party atmosphere.
“No, it wasn’t. Because it was, well, it was dry,” he revealed.
‘And then everyone was so tired, I’m not kidding, some people didn’t even eat dinner and they were exhausted when we took off and they slept the whole way, most people slept for 12 hours.
‘When we got on the plane, there was orange juice and apple juice.’
Ariarne Titmus revealed that the Australians were sent home from Paris on a dry flight to Perth.
Tired Australians slept most of the way through their Qantas flight home from the Paris Olympics.
This left the radio hosts in shock and they asked if the athletes were at least able to enjoy some champagne when they landed in Perth.
You wouldn’t believe what happened next.
“This was the best part,” Titmus said.
‘We got to Perth and they said, “We’ve blocked off the whole lounge so you can go there and relax during your four-hour stopover.” We got there and it was amazing.
‘We arrived and they gave us a bunch of chocolates. The whole place was tidy. Welcome home.’
“We were like, ‘Let’s go have some champagne or something.’ And we went to the bars, which were closed and they were making hot chocolate.”
Thirsty Australians couldn’t even get a drink at the Perth airport bar, because it was closed.
Titmus also shared his thoughts on Australian breakdancer Rachael “Raygun” Gunn, who has been mocked globally following her viral performance at the Paris Games.
Athletes celebrated in the Olympic Village before the closing ceremony and Titmus defended the hurdler, saying no athlete goes out to compete badly.
“You have to put yourself in their shoes,” Titmus said.
“We’re all confident that she went there and did the best she could, she’s not going to go to the Olympics and not do the best she could.
“If that was happening to me and I was receiving that criticism, you would be very upset and heartbroken.
“She’s one of us, she’s a teammate, she’s on the Australian Olympic team, so we all rally around her.”