Gabi Palm

In late 2017 Gabi Palm played a three-month stint in Italy and stored away as much goalkeeping experience as she could muster.

She started her international journey after graduating from Brisbane Girls Grammar School and took up a scholarship with the Queensland Academy of Sport, where she was asked to write down her goals.

“I remember thinking I am going to write down the 2020 Olympics, but I am not sure,’’ Gabi said. “But I thought I would write it down and it is funny that over the years, with hard work and dedication, it became a reality.’’

Gabi went on to acquire medals from the FINA World League Intercontinental Cup (2017 gold; 2018 silver) and a bronze from the 2019 FINA World Championships.

Making her Olympic debut at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, she was tasked with being the last line of defence for the Australian water polo squad. The Aussies would play out an impressive group stage of the Games, finishing tied first on points and advancing to the quarter-finals in second.

Australia faced the ROC in their quarter-final match, losing narrowly 9-8, which eliminated the squad from medal contention. The Aussies finished the Games on a high note, defeating Canada and the Netherlands to secure fifth place.

The Stingers conceded the second-least amount of goals throughout the entire tournament, a testament to Gabi’s ability between the posts.

She was part of the Stingers leadership group in Fukuoka, Japan for the 2023 World Aquatic Championships, where Australia finished fourth. After a tight 12-10 loss to Spain in the semi-finals, the Stingers lost the third-place play-off to Italy 16-14.

At the 2024 World Championships in Doha, Australia finished sixth, beating Britain 20-8 in the round of 16 before going down by a point to the USA in the quarter-finals.

Gabi, who plays as a professional for Club Esportiu Mediterrani in Barcelona, has developed into a senior member of the Stingers.

“Many of our senior and experienced players retired from the sport after the Tokyo Olympics, which made way for me to step up and take on more of a leadership role both in and out of the pool,” she said.

“It’s a shorter cycle due to COVID-19, but I’m really excited with where we are at as a team. We’re gaining momentum as a team in our preparations as we build towards the Paris Olympics.”

At the Paris 2024 Olympics Gabi and the Stingers became the most successful Australian water polo team ever at an overseas Olympic Games.

Their silver medal performance was close to being gold, going down 11-9 to world number one Spain in the gold medal match.

They got there with an undefeated run in the group matches against the Netherlands, Hungary, China and Canada with two of those wins coming via penalty shootout.

They took out Greece in the quarter-finals and world powerhouse the USA in the semis in another penalty shootout. Gabi's save on the sixth American penalty shootout shot, from Madeline Musselman, that secured the match 14-13 for Australia.