Standing in the shade after she and her partner Mariafe Artacho del Solar had toiled in the Tokyo heat for a beach volleyball silver medal, Taliqua Clancy attempted to cool down after becoming just the 10th Indigenous Australian in history to win an Olympic medal. Her nails – painted with the Aboriginal flag – underscored the significance of the moment.
Clancy, a proud Wulli Wulli and Goreng Goreng woman, follows in the footsteps of some of the greats – most notably Nova Peris, with her victory for the Hockeyroos in 1996, and Cathy Freeman, whose iconic 400m race at Sydney 2000 first lit the Olympic fire in Clancy.
Clancy is the first Indigenous player to represent Australia in the sport. She grew up in Kingaroy, over 200km away from the nearest beach yet, on the sand at the waterfront venue of Shiokaze Park, she joined Peris and Freeman on the honours list from previous Games, along with Samantha Riley, Baeden Choppy, Stacey Porter Desmond Abbott, Rohanne Cox and and Joel Carroll.
The Australian Olympic team at these Games contains a record 16 Indigenous Australians. Ash Barty, a Ngarigo woman, became the ninth Indigenous medallist in the mixed doubles tennis last week. Despite losing to the American pair of April Ross and Alix Klineman in straight sets, Clancy’s beach volleyball silver medal was historic. Barty and Clancy’s successes at these Olympics take the total Indigenous medal haul at all Games to 14.
Tokyo 2020 was also the first Olympics an Indigenous Australian carried the nation’s flag in the opening ceremony. Patty Mills – a Naghiralgal and Dauareb-Meriam man from the Torres Strait, and Kokatha man from South Australia’s west coast – embraced his heritage as he wore a facemask with traditional patterns into the Olympic Stadium. Earlier he had posed with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags.
The Matildas, led by Anaiwan woman Kyah Simon and Noongar woman Lydia Williams, had held up the Aboriginal flag prior to their opening match. It is also the first Games that the Australian Olympic Committee has appointed a dedicated Indigenous liaison officer, former Olympic hurdler Kyle Vander-Kuyp.
“It is always extremely important for me to represent my people well,” Clancy told Channel Seven. “I have never felt so supported as an Indigenous athlete and it is nice that we are really acknowledging our First Nations people.”
Clancy’s partner Artacho del Solar, meanwhile, continued a proud Olympic tradition for overseas-born Australians. Artacho del Solar moved to Sydney from Peru during her childhood; she is one of about 70 members of the Australian Olympic team in Tokyo born outside the country.
Earlier in the Games, 800m runner Peter Bol had become a national icon – the 27-year-old was born in Sudan, and lived in Egypt before arriving in Australia midway through his childhood. So too table tennis star Jian Fang Lay, who migrated from China in the 1990s.
While Clancy and Artacho del Solar have had different journeys to the Tokyo 2020 gold medal match, they feel a shared path. “That’s what makes our team so special – that’s why we click,” said Clancy after the match. “As much as it is a different story and journey, it is very similar too.”
The pair’s coach Kirk Pitman, is a Māori New Zealander; their assistant coach, Brad Tutton, is an Indigenous Australian. “These are all the special parts of what make our team so special,” Clancy said. “Nobody put their hand out for us – we’ve had to fight. That’s part of the special connection that you see with us.”
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Artacho del Solar nodded in agreement. “Nothing was easy,” the 27-year-old added. “Nothing was handed to us – we had to really earn it and work really hard for it. I hope we are an example and an inspiration.”
The sporting success of Clancy and Artacho del Solar – an Indigenous Australian and a migrant Australian – offered a glimpse of Australia at its best. “If you work hard and put your mind to it,” said Artacho del Solar, “anything is possible.”