11 November 2024
The future of Australia’s High Performance 2032+ Sport Strategy (HP 2032+ Strategy) and the commitment to win well is in good hands, after athletes, leaders and coaches came together to officially begin Horizon 2.
Paris 2024 gold medallists Noémie Fox, Vanessa Low and James Turner were among the almost 200 representatives from 51 sports and organisations who took part in the day at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).
Horizon 1, which began when the HP 2032+ Strategy was launched in December 2022, focused on refining and extending the foundations of the strategy and embedding sport’s united commitment to win well and inspire Australians.
More than 60 priority projects were undertaken, including the Connection to Country Action Plan unveiled by First Nations Olympians and Paralympians in Brisbane.
“One of the reasons we've been so successful, particularly if we look at 2024 at the Olympics and Paralympics, has been this just renewed invigoration of the system,” Victorian Institute of Sport CEO Nicole Livingston said.
“To be able to all work together and to collaborate together, knowing that we're all working for the same reason - to inspire Australians and to have great success when it comes to those major internationals.”
Horizon 2 will run until after the Milano Cortina Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games and the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2026 and will focus on converting and embedding the work of Horizon 1 across the high performance system.
“Horizon 2 is always the hard part of any strategy,” Athletics Australia CEO Simon Hollingsworth said.
“You're really bedding down what you've agreed to and really accelerating into that 2028 cycle and then beyond to 2032 and even beyond then. So, it's really important to get the strategic priorities set and agreed.”
Fox, still riding high from winning gold at her maiden Olympic Games, believes the constant presence of the athlete voice has greatly contributed to success of the strategy and win well message so far.
“We've had a really good representation of both Paralympic and Olympic athletes and have had some great discussions,” Fox said.
“One thing that the system is doing really well at the moment is keeping the athlete as the core component and the central focus. To include us in the conversations and to make us feel like we are heard and encouraged as well to speak and share our opinions against big roles like CEOs and all of that is really important.”
Following the conclusion of the forum, participants gathered to recommitment to the Win Well Pledge by signing the newly installed Win Well wall in the AIS Residence of Champions. To commit to the pledge virtually or learn more about the strategy, visit www.winwell2032.au