South-west Victoria has a strong Olympic history with many regional competitors making their mark, such as the Roycroft family, headed by Bill, competing in equestrian events, Clyde Sefton for cycling, athlete John Chittick and cyclist Michael Lynch to name a few.

The baton was then passed to Michelle Ferris, who would became a dual Olympic medallist, in 1996.

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Rowing silver medallist Christian Ryan and Taekwondo representative Lisa O'Keefe then joined her at Australia's last home Olympics, which celebrates its 20-year anniversary this week.

In the two decades since Sydney 2000 the south-west has produced seven Olympians, attended nine Olympics - four summer and five winter - and won five medals.

These are the modern pioneers who have inspired the next generation of south-west athletes who will aspire to compete at the world's biggest sporting event.

Olympics attended: Salt Lake 2002, Torino 2006, Vancouver 2010, Sochi 2014

Event: Para-alpine skiing

The Camperdown export was the region's first Olympian since 2000, is the only one to score two medals in one Games and has competed in four different years.

Rahles-Rahbula, who lost his left leg to cancer when he was 14, competed in the LW2 Para-alpine skiing class at Salt Lake in 2002, Torino 2006, Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014 Paralympics.

At Salt Lake he finished ninth in the downhill, 17^th in the slalom and did not finish in the giant slalom and super-G.

In 2006 at Torino, he competed in four standing events, coming 14th in the slalom and did not finish in the downhill, giant slalom and super-G.

At Vancouver he collected his best results, winning bronze medals in the men's slalom standing and super combined. He also finished ninth in the downhill, sixth in the giant slalom and fifth in the super-G. He was also the Australian flag bearer at the closing ceremony.

Unfortunately Rahles-Rahbula's final trip to an Olympics didn't go to plan in Sochi due to knee and ankle injuries he suffered during the warm up for the downhill event.

But he still carried the Australian flag (albeit on crutches) at the opening ceremony.

Olympics attended: Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio 2016

Event: Rowing

Ross was the first athlete to head to a summer games since the Sydney 2000 trio and she delivered on the big stage to bring home a medal in he debut games in Beijing.

Competing in the TA mixed double sculls, the Warrnambool export and her rowing partner John Maclean claimed silver.

They finished just behind Chinese pair Zhou Yangjing and Shan Zilong.

Ross competed in two more Paralympics at London and Rio. Her partner in London was Gavin Bellis but the pair did not medal.

Ross and Bellis again didn't medal four years later in Rio but finished second in the mixed double sculls B Final.

Olympics attended: London 2012, Rio 2016

Event: Wheelchair rugby

Hose watching the wheelchair rugby during the 2008 Beijing Olympics kick started his journey to dual gold medals at consecutive Games in the same event.

The Camperdown export's first taste of a Paralympics came in London in 2012.

Going into the games, the 3.0 point wheelchair rugby player and his team were ranked second in the world behind the United States but it was the Aussies who would come out on top to win the gold.

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The Australian team went through the five-day tournament undefeated and finished the tournament off with a 66-51 win over Canada.

Hose, an Order of Australia Medal recipient, and his teammates returned for Rio 2016 and continued their strong unbeaten form as they retained their gold medal, defeating the United States 59-58 in the final.

Olympics attended: London 2012, Rio 2016

Event: Table tennis

Every Olympian is their own history maker but for Tapper her visit to the 2016 Olympics was a history-making moment for Australia.

The Hamilton export became the first Australian athlete to qualify and compete at both summer Olympics and Paralympics.

She lined up in the singles and doubles events going down to Brazil's Caroline Kumahara 4-2 before lining up alongside Jian Fang Lay and Sally Zhang as the Australian women's team went down 3-0 to North Korea.

She returned for the Paralympics where she was knocked out in the preliminary round.

In the women's doubles class 6-10, Tapper and her partner Andrea McDonnell finished fourth after losing to Brazilian pair Bruna Costa Alexandre and Danielle Rauen.

Olympics attended: London 2012, Rio 2016

Event: Athletics

Mitchell, a Hamilton export, emerged onto the Olympic stage with a finals appearance in her debut games in 2012 before backing it up four years later.

The javelin thrower qualified 12^th for the final in London after throwing 60.11 metres. In the final she would improve to ninth with a throw of 59.46 metres.

At the Rio in 2016, she placed sixth in the final with an effort of 64.36m after getting through qualifying in 12^th.

Olympics attended: PyeongChang 2018

Event: Para-alpine skiing

The Cooriemungle product was the south-west's most recent Paralympian when she competed as a sighted guide for visually impaired skier Patrick Jensen in 2018.

As sighted guide, Falk skis ahead of Jensen issuing voice commands and information about changes in pitch, rhythm and snow conditions, while racing at speeds of up to 120 kilometres.

At the 2018 Winter Paralympics, Jensen with his guide Falk finished 11th in the men's giant slalom visually impaired and did not finish in the slalom visually impaired.

The pair first competed together in 2016 and Falk was forced to retire in 2019 due to injuries sustained in a heavy fall as she aimed to head to the 2022 Beijing Paralympic Winter Games.

Olympics attended: Tokyo 2020

Event: Shooting

Bookaar's Smith is preparing to compete in trap shooting at her first Olympics in Tokyo, which has been postponed until 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

She qualified for the shooting team earlier in 2020.

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