For many of us, the opportunity to fly business class doesn’t come around very often, so it’s certainly surprising to hear that Australia’s youngest Olympic games Gold medalist Arisa Trew declined the privilege afforded to all of the country’s medallists and gave up her business class seat for the flight home from Paris. But her reasons for the sacrifice show just how sweet the Gold Coast schoolgirl is.
Trew won skateboard gold in the women’s park event She became Australia’s youngest Olympic gold medalist at the tender age of just 14 years and 86 days, breaking the record held by swimmer Sandra Morgan since the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. But instead of enjoying the return flight with her medal-winning teammates in business class, the teen star just wanted to hang out with her friends in economy class.
Having returned to Australia as a national hero, the 14-year-old was interviewed on Melbourne radio about her flight home. And Trew told Jase & Lauren from Nova 100 that she didn’t want to sit back and relax on the long flight back from the French capital, but simply wanted to meet her best friends in economy class.
“I mean, I could have sat in business class with all the medalists, but instead I chose economy with my two best friends Chloe and Ruby,” Trew said. “I’m pretty sure someone else got it (their business class seat) because my friends and I were walking around the plane and we went up there and it was full. So I definitely think someone else sat there, but I don’t mind.”
Skating into the history books 👏🥇🇦🇺
Arisa Trew is the youngest Australian Olympic medallist, overtaking Sandra Morgan, who won gold in swimming in 1956 at the age of 14 years and 183 days.
Arisa won gold in the Skateboard Park at the age of 14 years and 86 days.#AllezAUS | @skateaustralia pic.twitter.com/pp8UEruftS
— AUS Olympic Team (@AUSOlympicTeam) 6 August 2024
Arisa Trew reflects on fulfilling her Olympic “dream”
Trew admitted landing in Australia was a special feeling after being greeted by a huge crowd at Sydney Airport. And the teenager said she was still processing her historic gold medal and the fact she had fulfilled her dream of representing her country at the Olympics – describing the experience as “crazy”.
“My friends and I looked out the window and thought, ‘There are a lot of people down there,'” she said. “I’ve wanted to go to the Olympics since I was 11. Watching the last Olympics when skateboarding was first introduced really inspired me.
“Going to the Olympics is crazy and then winning a gold medal is even crazier. I’m so happy to be back and it’s really cool to see all these people here. It’s like we know that Australia is our family.” After a few turbulent weeks, the 14-year-old will be returning to her normal routine in the next few days, going back to school and meeting up with all her friends again.
And the 14-year-old hopes her incredible journey and unforgettable Olympic experience will inspire the next generation of figure skaters, just as the Tokyo Games did for her. “For each of them, I just hope they start figure skating now,” she added.
“It doesn’t matter how old you are. Just try it and have fun. Find a good group of people to do it with. Challenge yourself and never give up. I just love going to school because it’s the skate park where I go to school. So I get to see all my friends who skate, who I skate and train with every day, my coaches, the teachers… It’s just the best thing in the world.”
