Over the years: Chelsea Women's Olympians

As we have seven players from Chelsea participating in the 2024 Olympic games in Paris, let's take a moment to look at the rest of our team who have also competed in the Olympics.

This summer, Kadeisha Buchanan, Ashley Lawrence, Mayra Ramirez, Sandy Baltimore, Eve Perisset, Sjoeke Nusken, and Maika Hamano will showcase their talents for their countries at a prestigious global event.

For this team, the journey to success starts today (Thursday) with the first set of group stage matches beginning at 4pm.

As our team gets ready to play in different cities in France, we take a look back at past matches where some of our current Chelsea players were part of the action.

Let's kick things off by talking about the London 2012 Olympics, where our team welcomes our new head coach Sonia Bompastor and assistant Camille Abily.

Both appeared in France's inaugural women's football tournament. They ultimately placed fourth after being defeated by Canada in the bronze medal game held in Coventry.

In 2016, four years after the previous Olympics, Abily returned to represent the French national team at her second Olympic games. Bompastor had retired from her successful playing career three years before. Several current players from the French team also competed in Brazil, and some even won medals.

Buchanan and Lawrence from Canada are competing in their first Olympics, along with Sam Kerr who is making her first appearance for Australia at the same event.

In the upcoming stages of the competition, Canada and the Matildas faced off in a highly-anticipated match. Buchanan and Lawrence emerged victorious with a 2-0 win, earning them bragging rights. Despite this result, both teams advanced to the knockout rounds.

Kerr's team from Australia was eliminated from the tournament when they lost to Brazil in a shootout during the quarter-finals. However, our two players from Canada managed to win a bronze medal by defeating the same team from South America in the match for third place.

Canada won bronze medals in two consecutive Olympic Games. Lawrence helped the team win a 2-1 victory over Brazil by assisting the first goal.

Many Chelsea players participated in the postponed matches in Tokyo in 2021, with nine of our current squad members competing for their home nations.

This year's games were unique because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Athletes wore masks and followed strict isolation rules. Fans could only watch the events on TV from their homes worldwide.

Great Britain made their long-awaited comeback to the tournament in Japan after last hosting the games in 2012. Millie Bright and Sophie Ingle were chosen as co-captains for the team, while Niamh Charles was selected as a reserve player for the squad.

Canada, with Buchanan and Lawrence on their team, was part of the same group as Great Britain. Australia, led by Kerr, competed against Sweden with Musovic and Bjorn, as well as the USA with Macario, in the group games.

In the elimination rounds, there were a number of intense matches among various teams in the Blue group. Kerr and the Matildas were able to defeat GB in the quarter-finals, but unfortunately, the Aussies lost to the Swedes in the semi-final, missing out on the opportunity to compete for the gold medal.

Even though Canada won against the USA in the previous semi-final match, Macario and her teammates still have a chance to contribute to America's great success in this competition by facing Kerr's Australia in the third-place playoff.

And it was the former athlete who won the third-place medal while the United States earned its sixth medal in seven Olympic games.

Next up is the most important match: Sweden versus Canada in the fight for the gold medal. Both teams were the second and third place winners in 2016, but only one could take home the ultimate prize this time. Who would come out on top and finally win that coveted gold medal?

Defender Bjorn was in the starting lineup for Sweden, while Blues goalkeeper Musovic was chosen as a substitute. Like they had in previous games, Buchanan and Lawrence were also in the starting XI for Canada.

Sweden had the upper hand for 34 minutes before Jessie Fleming, a former Chelsea midfielder, equalized the game with a penalty in the 67th minute.

The game was finally settled at that spot after a 1-1 tie that went into extra time. Canada came out on top, winning 3-2 in a penalty shootout, and securing their first-ever gold medal in women's football at the Olympics.

Can the current champions hold onto their title in Paris, or will a different member of the Blue team make a name for themselves in Olympic history? Keep watching to find out...

Best of luck to all our blue team members!