Less is More: The lessons Izzy Borlase learned in Paris

Fresh from her first Olympic experience, the teenager is ready to put aside individual accolades for the ultimate team success in Adelaide.

Credit: Paul Kane / Getty Images

Back in June, it was almost closing time at a pub in Melbourne, but one group of patrons simply wouldn’t leave. They were loud, but not obnoxiously so, with the echoes of laughter and the clinking of glasses constantly emanating from their company. They were celebrating, after all.

Eventually though, they were told it was just about closing time, and staff were ready to lock up. So with glasses in hand, the group packed the pub’s makeshift dancefloor, and prepared to make the most of the night’s final song.

Little Lion Man – the indie rock song that sent Mumford and Sons towards the top of the charts back in 2009 – might not be the first choice on most people’s karaoke list, but on this night, that didn’t matter. Izzy Borlase had just been told she was going to the Olympics, and alongside her family and friends, it was cause for a celebration. They screamed every single word.

“I thought I was going to cry when I got told, but I didn’t. Then when I saw my dad, I cried a little, but it was more when I saw my family. Just knowing all the hard work they’ve put in, was really nice,” she recalls. “It was the last song, so that song will always remind me of the moment I was with all my friends and family.”

That was July, and it’s now October. Three months since becoming a teenage Olympian, and helping the Opals win an unforgettable bronze medal, Borlase is back home in Adelaide. But as she sits down to revisit her incredible journey, she’s already fully focused on the future.