The proud parents of Australian bronze medallists have been prevented from watching their children receive their medals by French authorities brandishing automatic machine guns.
The Australian Opals completed their stunning turnaround at the Paris Olympics on Sunday by beating Belgium to capture a bronze medal that had seemed unlikely earlier in the tournament.
The Australian women had suffered a surprise defeat to Nigeria at the start of their season, but breathed new life into the tournament by beating hosts France on home soil.
Ultimately they lost to the eventual gold medalists from the USA, but they recovered strongly and won 85-81 in a thrilling battle.
Their proud parents and relatives were in the stands to cheer them on, but their cheers quickly turned to jeers when French authorities prevented them from watching their children receive their medals.
The match between Opals and Belgium was part of a double bill at the Bercy Arena, with the bronze medal match being played before the gold medal match between the United States and France.
The Aussies only had tickets for the bronze medal match, so they had to leave the arena while the gold medal match was being played.
However, when they tried to re-enter the arena to attend the medal ceremony, they were denied entry.
The parents of the Australian Opals players desperately tried to get back inside to watch the medal ceremony, but the armed officials would not budge
The family of Australian Opals skipper Tess Madgen were among those left out
Jade Melbourne was at her Olympic debut and her father Brett was not allowed to watch her receive her medal
Brett Melbourne, the proud father of 21-year-old Jade Melbourne, a security guard for the Washington Mystics, was filmed desperately trying to get in, only to be met with a wall of armed French police officers with their automatic weapons in plain view.
“It’s just wrong, mate,” Brett pleaded with the officers.
It’s nonsense that you’re waiting until now [to stop people entering the stadium].
“That’s nonsense. My child is getting a medal and I can’t imagine her getting one.”
One of the officers repeatedly told the desperate parents, “I don’t know,” but would not explain why they were not allowed to pass the line of officers to enter the arena.
It was an emotional end for the Opals, with Lauren Jackson and Cayla George retiring and Madgen (pictured) unlikely to ever compete at the Olympics again.
Parents begged the authorities to be allowed in for just one moment, but they were flatly denied
An unknown person in the crowd shouted “It was okay for Serbia” and claimed that the parents of the Serbian male players had been allowed to watch their children receive their bronze medal the night before.
“I hope you don’t have any children who pass because you’re going to be very disappointed,” another unidentified man shouted at the officers.
A man filming the event asked Brett what happened.
“We won the bronze medal. We were at the game, now we can’t go back,” he said.
Another party added: ‘They don’t let any family go to the medal ceremony.’
“If France won, would you let us in?” asked another.
Among the parents trying to get in were Gene and Deb Madgen, the parents of Opals captain Tess Madgen, who had earlier made the free throws that decided the score.
Earlier in the week, happier times were ahead for Tess Madgen’s parents Deb and Gene, along with her former AFL star brother Jack
Gene and Deb have been proud supporters of their daughter throughout her basketball career
Vanessa Rendell, Tess’s aunt, also spoke to a person who filmed the incident about the difficulties they had getting back inside.
“Our tickets don’t give us access to see our families and children win their bronze medal,” she said.
So we ran around trying to get in, but we [keep getting] a roadblock.
‘All they want is to see their children and win their bronze medal, because they’ve never won it before.
“We can’t get in, they won’t let us in, even though we were at the match earlier.”
Madgen’s mother Deb was upset at the time and vented her anger at officials who would not budge.
“Shame on you. You ruined the whole Olympics for us,” she screamed.
Jade Melbourne (center) with her family, including her parents Brett and Sharon and two younger sisters
While the bronze medal was a first for young players like Melbourne, the victory was also a fitting farewell for a number of retiring players, including five-time Olympian Lauren Jackson and superstar Cayla George.
At age 34, Madgen is unlikely to compete in the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
“It’s crazy, I can’t believe it,” Jackson said, after which Madgen called her the team’s “lucky charm.”
“The trust within the group never wavered,” Madgen added.
“We knew we didn’t play well that game, we knew we had to be on another level. This is the Olympics. We weren’t ready for that game, but we were damn ready for all the games that followed.”
