Three Western Australian men’s hockey players will head to Beijing in August aiming to repeat the Kookaburra’s Athens gold medal performance after they were named in the 2008 Australian Olympic Team Thursday.
Bevan George, Fergus Kavanagh and Kiel Brown were all officially named as members of the 16-man Men’s Hockey Section of the 2008 Australian Olympic Team at a function in Kings Park this afternoon, making Beijing WA’s best representation on an Olympic men’s hockey team since the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.
Of the trio only 31-year old George was a member of the victorious 2004 Olympic team, with 23-year old Kavanagh and 24-year old Brown set to make their Olympic debuts when they take to the field against Canada on August 11.
Brown’s selection marks a special moment in WA’s Olympic history, with the midfielder and his sister, fellow hockey player Hope Munro, becoming the State’s first brother/sister combination to be selected for the same Olympics.
The total number of WA representatives now stands at 34, with further announcements expected for men’s water polo, cycling, basketball, gymnastics and equestrian within the next few days.
Full biographies of the men’s hockey athletes are available on the AOC’s official website – http://www.olympics.com.au/Athletes/TheTeam/tabid/343/Default.aspx?TeamID=14&SportID=15&DisciplineID=-1#teamTableContainer . A full listing of all official WA selections is also available at www.olympics.com.au/wa .
