BRENDAN LINES
FORMER Waikerie hockey player Tom Wickham is part of Australia’s Olympic Games hockey team.
His selection makes it three Riverland sporting products taking part in the postponed Games, which get under way this Friday.
Born and raised in Morgan, Wickham moved to Western Australia in 2011 to take up a scholarship with the Australian Institute of Sport.
The 31-year-old will join fellow Riverland products Alex Hill (rowing) and Luke Saville (tennis) at the Tokyo games.
A member of the Kookaburras since 2013, Wickham’s breakout year came in 2017 when he played in all 32 games across the calendar year.
He had his first taste of gold medal success at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
Wickham was among 14 athletes across football, hockey and rugby sevens selected following a change in Olympic squad regulations by the IOC announced in early July. The changes allowed athletes to be promoted from the team’s injury list.
Australia’s Olympic Games hockey campaign kicks off against host country Japan on Saturday.