Michelle Bromley

Fast Facts

Sport: Table Tennis
Olympic History: Tokyo 2020
Highlights: Tokyo 2020 & Commonwealth Games 2018
Coach: JP
Club: Rydalmere, Macquarie Park and Fairfield
Year Born: 1987
State Born: NSW

About Michelle

Michelle Bromley was always destined to become a table tennis player with her father and mother falling in love at a tennis table club and her grandparents competing at a national level into their 80's.

It became a family affair, with Bromley's older brothers also taking to the paddle and Bromley following in their footsteps.

Growing up in the small NSW country town of Gulgong, when she was six Bromley would annoy her mother by hitting the ball against the kitchen wall at home for hours. 

By the time she was seven, she won her first trophy at the State Primary School Championships. 

Seeing her developing talent, Bromley's mum nurtured her early table tennis development, but by the age of 10, her dad knew she had something special so he took over the reins becoming her coach and warm-up partner.

Michelle recalls training each night with her dad in the family shed as one of her fondest memories and strongest formative moments. 

She won her first national title at 13 and that year represented Australia internationally.

After several attempts, two decades later, Bromley was selected for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games but sadly, her dad, coach and hero was unable to see her achieve this great feat, passing away from cancer in 2012.

"My dad is my hero, he was always my biggest fan and believed I could achieve my dreams," Bromley said.

The Blacktown NSW local says her dad instilled in her the determination, strength and attitude that saw her qualify for her first Olympic Games, making her debut at Tokyo 2020. 

The 32-year-old won eight out of nine matches at the Australian Qualification Tournament for the 2020 Olympic Games to secure her spot in Tokyo.

Fans and spectators erupted in applause and cheered for the small-town girl, who after three attempts at Olympic qualification, was finally going to make her Olympic debut.

Michelle made her Olympic debut at the delayed Tokyo 2020 games, in both the women's singles and teams events. In the singles tournament Bromely matched up against Polish athlete Natalia Partyka in straight sets. She would then line up alongside Melissa Tapper and Jian Fang Lay in the women's team tournament, matching up against team Germany. Michelle would be defeated in both her doubles and singles match of the three, overall being eliminated 3-0 by the Germans.