A record number of female and Indigenous athletes will represent Australia at this month's Tokyo Olympic Games.
The 472-strong team, announced on Monday, comprises 254 female competitors and 16 First Nations athletes.
Prior to Monday, the 2016 Rio event had the most women representing Australia at a Games with 214, while the Sydney 2000 team had the highest number of Indigenous Australians competing with 12.
Australian Olympic Team chef de mission, Ian Chesterman, said he was pleased to see women making up more than half of the 2020 team.
“I really commend our sports on creating those pathways for our athletes and I'm delighted to have that very large number [of] 53 per cent being female in Tokyo,” he told reporters on Monday.
“I think that's something we'll see as an ongoing trend in the future.”
Two-time Olympic sprint hurdler Kyle Vander-Kuyp has also been appointed Australia's first Indigenous liaison officer at an edition of the Games.
He said he is looking forward to helping them achieve the best results possible.
"[I am excited to] be there, be a voice, be someone to listen to, be an encouragement, be a pat on the back," he said.
'I hope I make Australians proud'
The Tokyo team forms Australia’s second-largest overseas Olympic contingent and also includes 65 members born overseas.
Among them is Chinese-born Jian Fang Lay - who will compete in the table tennis at her sixth Olympics, a record for Australian women - and Croatian-born Goran Tomasevic, who is part of the water polo squad.
Mr Tomasevic became an Australian citizen earlier this year.
The 31-year-old knew this was his last chance of playing at an Olympic Games and said he was very excited by his selection.
“I came to Australia six years ago, with the hope of establishing my life over here and I couldn't be more luckier with the way Australia has accepted me both professionally at work as well as in the water polo,” he said.
Croatian-born Goran Tomasevic is set to represent Australia in water polo Source: SBS News
“To get an opportunity like this at the age of 31 is a dream come true and I hope I make Australians proud.”
The Australian squad will have some noticeable absences, with NBA basketballer Ben Simmons opting not to play in Tokyo.
Nick Kyrgios is also unlikely to join Ash Barty on Australia's tennis team.
"We'd still love to see Nick over at these Games. He knows he's welcome at these Games and I would still think it'd be a fantastic outcome for tennis and our team if he was there," Mr Chesterman said.
The Tokyo Games start in just over two weeks' time on 23 July.
