They say that home is where the heart is. As it turns out, it’s where the Vegemite is too. Despite heading to one of the world’s food capitals, Paris, Australian Olympians will be treated to a little taste of home during their stints in the Olympic Village. 

During a press conference on Wednesday, June 5, the Australian Olympic Committee announced the special touches planned for the athletes as they battle it out for gold at the Paris 2024 games.

Creature comforts like Vegemite, Weet-Bix, Four’n’Twenty pies, Milo, and a trio of travelling baristas will be available to our athletes, fuelling them with flat whites and keeping homesickness at bay. This is in addition to the supplied on-site boulangerie and of course, the baguette-scented postage stamps floating around Paris.

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The custom of on-site Aussie baristas began during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, when the Australian Olympic Committee hired a coffee cart for the team. The cart was manned by Victorian-born, Tokyo-based barista, Elliott Johnson. During his two-week contract, Johnson made around 600 coffees for the athletes every day, with an occasional helping hand from chef de mission and Olympic champion, Susie O’Neill.

With the Australian team anticipated to grow to 460 athletes by the time the games roll around, the yet-to-be-named baristas will need to be in peak form as they follow in the footsteps of giants. 

The budding but adorable tradition was compounded at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics when barista Jacob King was flown in from Australia for the games, dressed in the national uniform, and even marched in the opening ceremony.

Related story: Celebrate the Aussie icon that is Vegemite with these 26 recipes