The efforts of the Illawarra’s own Emma McKeon at the Rio Olympics deserves special recognition.
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When asked about plans to celebrate the achievements of our Olympians, Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery said council may consider doing something special.
“We would include them in our next reception, but we’ll see what sort of magnitude this is because we might be able to do something very special,” Cr Bradbery told the Illawarra Mercury last week.
Well, Emma McKeon has done something special. Something incredibly special.
Ordinarily the council would invite our Olympians to a civic reception and that’s great but Emma McKeon’s four – yes, four – Olympic medals are worthy of something far grander.
We posted a cheeky meme (get the kids to explain what a meme is if you don’t know) to our Facebook page on Sunday noting Emma had won as many Olympic medals at that stage as the entire host nation of Brazil. True.
Emma will be leaving Rio and travel back to her hometown of Wollongong with some excess baggage.
The star of the pool won a gold medal in the 4x100m freestyle relay team, silver in the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay and 4x100m medley relay team and bronze in the women’s 200m final.
That is an incredible haul by anyone’s standards and is arguably the most notable individual haul by and Australian athlete so far in the Rio 2016 Olympics Games.
Emma’s achievements deserve to be celebrated and open to the community she has so proudly represented in Rio.
Give her the keys to the city and do it at a time and a place where the city can come along and really say thank you.
Emma McKeon is such an amazing role model for the children of this region.
After winning her gold medal, she was faced with a personal disappointment.
Emma was left in tears after finishing seventh in the 100 m butterfly final after finishing second fastest.
Yet she did drop her bundle and her swims to get her next three medals were full of nothing but grit and determination – the makings of a true champion.
And all at her first Olympics.
C’mon Wollongong City Council, this is a time to step up the podium.
Let's do something to celebrate the amazing achievements of Emma McKeon in Rio.