Griffith's young students were seeing the games unfold each day after school, watching with bated breath as their fellow Australians went up against the very best in the world and - in multiple instances - came out on top.

For youngsters already passionate about sport and competition, the experience has proved a defining one.

Amanda Hopkins, 11, was among the young athletes caught up in the excitement of the games and she has now set her sights on creating some iconic moments of her own.

"We would turn on the TV every day after school and watch the swimming, the diving and then the next week we watched all the races," Amanda said.

"Now I'm setting a goal for the Brisbane Olympics in 12 years. I want to compete in the javeline, pole vaulting, high jump and also the 1500 metre and the 800 metre races."

Amanda said the memory of seeing Peter Bol coming fourth in the Men's 800 metre would stick with her for a long time and admitted she was sad to see the events wrap up over the weekend.

But while the excitement is ending for some, for others it is only just beginning.

Eloise McCarthy is an 11-year-old student at Hanwood Public School, a talented sprinter who also has a passion for shot put and discus. She also has cerebral palsy.

Eloise is buzzing with excitement ahead of the Paralympics, which are set to kick off in Tokyo later this month.

"I don't know much about it because it will be my first time watching them [the Paralympics] but I'm really excited," Eloise said.

"I think knowing what the experience is like at the Paralympics and seeing the life of the paralympians will be really interesting."

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Like Amanda, Eloise has also made the upcoming Brisbane games her big goal, as she pursues her ambition of competing in the green and gold.

"I really want to be a paralympian and to represent Australia in the 800 metre race, the shot put and the discus."

Just south of Griffith, Coleambally Central School's Lachlan Hardy spent the latter parts of July watching Australia dominate the pool in Tokyo.

Nearly half of Australia's medals at the Olympics were achieved in swimming events and Lachlan said it was exciting and inspiring to watch the races unfold.

"My favourite sport at the Olympics was definitely the swimming because it's the sport Australia is the best at in the world," Lachlan said.

"It makes me proud of how they represent my country and how hard they must have worked and trained to make it there."

At the heart of Australia's success both in the pool and out of it was the incredible effort of female olympians like swimmers Ariarne Titmus, Emma McKeon, and canoeist Jess Fox.

Griffith North Public School students Jami-Lee Van Nida, 11, and Sophie Webb, 12, said it was inspiring to see the Australian women being some of the best in the world.

"The women won so many of our medals and I think it was really inspiring to see how they did so well," Sophie said.

"We watched Jess Fox as well when she got her gold and that was really cool. She's worked really hard and it just shows that if you try really hard you can get what you want."

Jami-Lee echoed this sentiment, adding that the incredible efforts of the female Olympians showed her that "women can do anything".

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