Griffith students take Matildas to Rio 2016

Tameka Butt is one of three Griffith students who will compete with the Matildas at the Rio Olympics.
Tameka Butt is one of three Griffith students who will compete with the Matildas at the Rio Olympics.

Three Griffith students are on the road to Rio 2016 after the Westfield Matildas football team qualified for the world sporting event, ending a 12-year Olympic drought.

Tameka Butt (Masters of Business/Masters of Marketing), Elise Kellond-Knight (Masters of Pharmacy) and Matilda’s co-captain Clare Polkinghorne (Masters of Criminology and Criminal Justice) were part of the team that beat North Korea last night to cement a place in the Olympics.

All three students are members of the Griffith Sports College.

Elise Kellond-Knight
Elise Kellond-Knight

Sports College Director Duncan Free OAM said it was fantastic to see the Sports College students achieving well in their chosen sport as well as getting the opportunity to represent their country.

He said it was particularly exciting to see the female athletes gaining deserving recognition for their hard work.

“It is very exciting to see all the hard work our students put in paying off,” Mr Free said.

“Competing on the world stage at an Olympic Games is an amazing experience.

“It’s an awesome thing to not only to attend and compete in the worlds largest sporting event with over 200 countries and over 10,000 athletes, but a chance to compete in that event where your whole country is behind you back at home, regardless if they follow your particular sport or not.

“It’s an amazing time when all of Australia comes together to cheer for all 500 Australian athletes that are representing our country.

Clare Polkinghore
Clare Polkinghorne

“We look forward to watching our students who compete in a range of sports on their journey to Rio and then to the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.”