How Australia Post is paying tribute to every gold medal winner

Australia Post has announced an initiative to celebrate Australian Olympic gold medallists in a new collectible range.

The initiative will feature photographs of Australian Olympic gold medal winners on special release Australian Gold Medallist postage stamps.

The stamps feature colourful photographs of the athletes wearing green and gold and holding their gold medals.

Women's Four rowing team holding gold medals. Source: Australia Post
The new stamp range features Australian gold medal Olympians like Women's Four Rowing. Source: Australia Post

The collectible stamp range currently shows 14 gold medal athletes on a total of six stamps, with the addition of a "Ticket to Tokyo" general Olympic design.

As the games continue Australia Post will produce new stamps as Australia wins gold medals, with a turnaround time of 72 hours of the medal ceremony taking place.

Australia Post’s executive general manager community and consumer Nicole Sheffield, said the gold medallist program provides the public with an opportunity to connect with this year’s Olympic games.

“These games are unlike any other in history, and we’re proud to be able to recognise our Olympians in this way and help Australians celebrate these remarkable athletes who are representing their country and performing at their peak,” Ms Sheffield said.

This announcement follows suit with a similar initiative run by the postage service in 2000, where Australia Post became the world’s first postal organisation to produce instant stamps at the Sydney Olympics.

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics began on July 23 and will run until August 8, after being rescheduled due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

The Australian Gold Medallist postage stamps are available at participating post offices, via mail order, and online while stocks last. The stamps are priced at $1.10 each.

Australia Post also announced earlier in the year that they will be featuring traditional place names on packages, in an effort to celebrate Australian history.

Athletes celebrated in new stamp range

In addition to a Ticket to Tokyo Olympic stamp, Australian gold medallists are being celebrated in a new Australia Post range.

Kaylee McKeown - winner of the Women’s 100m Backstroke joins the women’s 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay, Women’s four rowing and Men’s 4 Rowing on the celebratory stamps.

Ariarne Titmus holding an Olympic gold medal. Source: Australia Post
Ariarne Titmus has become the first Olympian with two stamps in the Australia Post initiative. Source: Australia Post

The men’s Four team - Alexander Purnell, Spencer Turrin, Jack Hargreaves and Alexander Hill set an Olympic Best time of 5:42:76, beating Romania and Italy.

In the women's Four rowing final, Lucy Stephan, Rosemary Popa, Jessica Morrison and Annabelle McIntyre set an Olympic Best time with 6:15:37, finishing just ahead of the Netherlands.

Olympic swimmer Ariarne Titmus is currently featured on two of the stamps, after winning gold in both the Women’s 200m Freestyle and Women’s 400m freestyle. Ms Titmus’s 200m Freestyle set an Olympic Record time of 1:53:50.

These gold medal champions will join other Olympians including Bronte Campbell, Meg Harris, Emma McKeon and Cate Campbell as the latest athletes to feature on a stamp through the Australian Gold Medallist Stamps program.

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