"25 years has passed but it feels like yesterday. If I close my eyes I can imagine myself there. It was a massive stadium on Bondi Beach with 10,000 screaming fans and it was incredible. Aussies getting behind Aussies is really special. It really does lift you... there is nothing more special than a home Games," Natalie said.

"You see the sparkle in the young kids today who may have a chance to represent Australia at a home Games. It [Brisbane 2032] will change their lives, it will be aspirational.

"The kids here today are nine years old. All we're here to do is to inspire them to do a little bit better tomorrow than they thought they could, be the best versions of themselves. If you're lucky enough, in the right place at the right time you might be lucky enough to even win an Olympic medal."

In the first event of a month long Olympics Unleashed Roadshow, Natalie alongside fellow Olympians Ji Wallace (Trampoline), Anna Meares (Cycling), Cate Campbell (Swimming) and Lachlan Kennedy (Athletics) shared stories and inspired students with motivational messages and even a few cartwheels thrown in.

Cate Campbell shared her experiences of watching the Sydney Olympic Games on TV and imagining that one day she too could become an Olympic medallist.

"Sydney was the first Games that I can remember. It was the seed of my Olympic story and journey. I couldn't have imagined then that it would lead to what it did but that's the point of [today], coming and spreading these messages and telling the kids about it. It's getting them excited, getting them engaged. Telling them that something big and incredible is waiting just around the corner for them because that's what the Olympics does to people."

"Sydney and the Sydney Olympics put Australia on the world map... suddenly people saw the Sydney Olympic Games and thought, oh my goodness this is an incredible country. Most people know where Sydney is largely due to the fact they hosted the Games. Brisbane is going to have that opportunity in seven years time," she said.

Australian Olympic Team Chef de Mission Anna Meares said she felt privileged to have the opportunity to share the Olympic spirit and values with the next generation through the Olympics Unleashed program.

"It is really special to be here as an Olympian potentially inspiring another Olympian or someone to follow their dream into business or science or medicine or art or music or whatever it is that their passion is."

"Often kids don't get to see and touch Olympic medals or experience storytelling from an athlete's point of view or have a spark planted or a fire lit somewhere where they ask the question - could I?

"It teaches values; sport teaches about winning and losing, being resilient, about asking for help. There are so many things there that can help them through their life not just in sport," Anna said.

The Olympics Unleashed Roadshow will now travel to Toowoomba, Gold Coast, Lismore, Kempsey, Port Macquarie, Taree and Sydney throughout September celebrating a momentous chapter in Australian sporting history while also looking ahead to Brisbane 2032 – inspiring students to dream big, both on and off the sporting field.

Olympics Unleashed, inspiring the next generation through Sydney 2000 memories