A record-breaking Old Melburnian joins the Olympic team

Just weeks before competition begins at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, record-breaking high jumper Joel Baden (OM 2014) was announced as the fifth Old Melburnian to join the Australian team, making this year’s Old Melburnian representation the biggest ever cohort to compete under the Olympic rings at a single Olympic Games.

“Beyond excited to announce I’ve been selected for my second Olympic Games!” Joel wrote on social media following the news that he had been chosen to compete in the Men’s High Jump. Paris follows Joel’s first Olympic experience competing at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

Setting new records from the start

Currently ranked world number 23 in Men’s High Jump, Joel began setting records while still at Melbourne Grammar School. He has held APS Interschool Athletics high jump records for more than a decade, after clearing 2.12m in the Under 17 category in 2012, and 2.29m in the Open category in 2014, when he smashed the previous record by 17cm.

In 2013, Joel won the Australian Under 18 High Jump Championships, and went on to win the Australian Open High Jump Championships in 2017, 2019, and 2023.

2023 also saw Joel record his unofficial personal best jump of 2.33m at the Victorian Championships—a result that would have won him the bronze medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games. This places him third on the all-time Australian high jump record holders list behind joint national record holders Tim Forsyth and Brandon Starc.

Most recently, Joel has recorded a leap of 2.25m at the 2024 Oceania Athletics Championships held in in Suva, Fiji.

Finding community in an individual sport

When he arrives in Paris, Joel will join four Old Melburnian rowers competing at the Games: three-time Olympian and gold medallist Jess Morrison OAM (OM 2010), Fergus Hamilton (OM 2017), dual Olympian Tim Masters (OM 2009), and Jack Robertson (OM 2016).

Joel’s long-time coach is Sandro Bisetto, who also guided Tim Forsyth to his bronze medal win at the Barcelona Games in 1992. “I certainly wouldn’t have made it without the support of family, my training squad and the endless patience and guidance from Sandro Bisetto throughout all these years,” Joel posted in his selection announcement, adding that the sense of community he has felt during competition has been particularly special to him. “If I can tap into that, anything can happen at these Games,” he added.