Canberra United captain and Matildas veteran Michelle Heyman has stepped into the shoes of an Olympic athlete again, and now she doesn't want to let them go.
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Heyman was on hand to model the Paris Olympics opening ceremony uniforms in Sydney on Wednesday, wearing the iconic Games rings on the Australian team blazers and custom Dunlop volleys for the first time since her 2016 Rio appearance.
The 35-year-old didn't think she would get a chance to be at an Olympics again after Rio, but since her surprise selection call-up to the Matildas in February, Heyman is now in the box seat to have another crack at landing a Games medal.
"I scored two goals [in Rio] but I didn't score as many as I wanted, and we didn't win a medal," she said. "I thought that was going to be my last Olympics.
"I want to do more, and I want to make sure that I'm performing at the best of my ability by that time."
Heyman said she was more self-assured as an athlete and person than eight years ago, and even since she stepped away from international soccer in 2019.
So after an ACL injury to Matildas star striker and skipper Sam Kerr saw coach Tony Gustavsson reward Heyman for her Golden Boot-winning A-League Women form with a call-up, she swiftly repaid him with goals galore.
The experienced forward shone in Australia's 3-0 and 10-0 thumpings of Uzbekistan, scoring a total of five goals to help seal the Matildas' ticket to the Paris Olympics.
Though she was kept goal-less in the Matildas' recent friendly win over Mexico, Heyman is confident she can be a bigger attacking weapon in Paris than she was in Rio.
"I think in Rio I panicked," she said. "It's quite scary. Going to the Olympics, when you're younger I think it is a little bit overwhelming.
"Now it comes with age. I just feel so comfortable and confident within my own skin that when I get out on the field, I don't even notice anyone else."
Despite not knowing if she will be headed to Paris with selections for the Matildas' Games squad yet to be announced, the forward was upbeat about her chances.
"I have no idea what's going on in Tony's (Gustavsson) head," she said.
"Fingers crossed, I'll be wearing this jacket soon."
After the home 2023 World Cup, Heyman said the skyrocketing interest and support for the Matildas and women's sport was "wild" to experience.
Even the domestic league benefited from Matildas fever at the World Cup. The A-League Women confirmed this week that 284,551 people had come through the turnstiles in the 2023-24 regular season, making it "the most-attended season of any women's sport in Australian history".
It's a sign of the booming popularity of the women's game in particular in Australia, putting this upcoming Matildas Olympic campaign in Paris as easily the biggest of the team's history.
"My last game that I played in Sydney before we went to the World Cup, there was 5000 people in the stand - to now walking out in Melbourne with 55,000 people cheering us on," she said.
"It's wild to see how incredible it is for all of Australia to be backing the Matildas now."
- with AAP