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Murray Rose
Murray Rose emerged from the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne as a national hero and was a six-time Olympic medalist (four gold, one silver, one bronze). He won the first of his three 1956 gold medals in the final of the 4 x 200m freestyle relay. He followed with victories in the 400m freestyle and 1500m freestyle, becoming the first swimmer in 36 years to win both individual events. -
Betty Cuthbert
Betty Cuthbert will forever be known as the Golden Girl of the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games, where she won three sprinting gold medals. In nine days she won the 100m, the 200m and anchored the team that won the 4 x 100m relay - becoming the first Australian, male or female, ever to win three gold medals at a single Games. -
Dawn Fraser
At the 1956 Melbourne Olympics she became an Australian national hero and world swimming star, winning the 100 metres freestyle gold medal in world record time as well as taking gold in the 100 metres freestyle relay and silver in the 400 metres freestyle. She is the only swimmer in the world to win the same event at three Olympic games in a row. -
Herb Elliot
Elliot's crowning glory came at the Rome Olympics where he entered the 1500m as world record holder and an overwhelming favourite having won his past 44 races. Unlike many who succumbed to the burden of pressure, Elliott produced his greatest performance, winning a Gold medal, and breaking his own world mark by almost half a second. -
Margaret Court
Margaret Court became the first female player from Australia to win a Grand Slam tournament abroad, when she won the French and US Championships in 1962. The year after that, she became the first Australian woman to win Wimbledon. Overall, she won 64 Grand Slam events (24 singles, 19 doubles, 21 mixed doubles), which is a record for a male or female player. -
Rod Laver
Rod Laver is an Australian former tennis player widely regarded as one of the greatest in tennis history. In 1969, Laver became the only man to win the Grand Slam (all four major tournaments in the same calendar year) twice when he won the US Open by defeating Tony Roche in the final. -
Evonne Goolagong Cawley
Australian tennis players dominated Wimbledon early in the decade. Evonne Cawley, was the first indigenous Australian to win a Wimbledon Tennis Championship in 1971. The year 1971 was a highlight of her career, because she also won the French Open and the British Hard Court Championships -
Shane Gould
At the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Gould won three gold medals, setting a world record in each race. She also won a bronze and a silver medal. She is the only person, male or female, to hold every world freestyle record from 100 metres to 1500 metres and the 200-metre individual medley world record simultaneously, which she did from 12 December 1971 to 1 September 1972. She is also the only Australian to win three individual gold medals at a single Olympics. -
Davis Cup
Australia's 5-0 defeat of the United States in the final was the most devastating away final victory in Davis Cup history. An ageing Australian team, Ken Rosewall (39), Rod Laver (35), John Newcombe (29) and Mal Anderson (38) showed they were the best in history. A remarkable fact was all four players (and the captain) Neale Fraser had won the US men's singles championship. -
Rob de Castella
Robert de Castella, known as 'Deek' is a four-time Olympian, competing in the men's marathon at the Moscow 1980, Los Angeles 1984, Seoul 1988 and Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games. The 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane was the venue for one of Rob’s most memorable moments. A tremendous battle was fought out between Juma Ikangaa and Rob De Castella over the race’s closing stages before Rob prevailed, to win gold in 2:09.18. -
America's Cup
The 1983 America's Cup was the occasion of the first winning challenge to the New York Yacht Club, which had successfully defended the cup over a period of 132 years. An Australian syndicate representing the Royal Perth Yacht Club fielded the Australia II, skippered by John Bertrand, against defender Liberty, skippered by Dennis Conner. Australia II won the match races to win the America's Cup, ending the longest winning streak in sporting history and ending U.S. domination of the racing series. -
Pat Cash
Pat Cash’s greatest tennis achievement was winning the men’s singles at Wimbledon in 1987. After defeating world No.1 Ivan Lendl in straight sets, he climbed into the stands to celebrate with his family and coach. He is known to be one of the greatest net players of all time, because of his incredible agility and well-coordinated athleticism at the net. -
Louise Sauvage
Born with a severe spinal disability called myelodysplasia which inhibits the function of the lower half of the body, Louise Sauvage has defied the odds put on her to become one of Australia's most famous sportspeople. She made her Paralympic debut, representing Australia at the 1992 Barcelona Paralympic Games - winning three gold (100m, 200m, 400m) and one silver medal (800m). She also won another four gold medals at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games. -
Kieren Perkins
Kieren Perkins is an Australian former competition swimmer, four-time Olympic medalist and former world record-holder in three events, and one of the world's best-ever long-distance swimmers. Kieren Perkins won the 1500 metres freestyle gold medal at the Atlanta Games in 1996, he became the only Australian since Dawn Fraser to defend an individual Olympic championship successfully. -
Cricket World Cup
The 1999 ICC Cricket World Cup, the seventh edition of the tournament, was hosted primarily by England. The World Cup was won by Australia, who beat Pakistan by 8 wickets at Lord's Cricket Ground in London. The squad included: Steve Waugh (c), Michael Bevan, Damien Fleming, Paul Reiffel, Shane Warne, Mark Waugh, Shane Lee, Tom Moody, Darren Lehmann, Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist (wk), Adam Dale, Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn. -
Cathy Freeman
Cathy Freeman’s role in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games embedded her name forever in Olympic history. World Championship 400m wins in 1997 and 1999 made Cathy Freeman the favourite for the 2000 Sydney Games, where she was also given the honour of lighting the Olympic cauldron. Under pressure to perform well for her home crowd, she won a resounding victory in the 400m final – Australia’s 100th Olympic gold medal. -
Ian Thorpe
Ian Thorpe won five Olympic gold medals, the greatest total of any Australian. On the first night of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, he won the 400m freestyle, shaving his own world mark, then combined with Michael Klim, Chris Fydler and Ashley Callus to inflict the United States’ first defeat ever in the 4 x 100m freestyle relay, setting another world record. Later Thorpe featured with Klim, Todd Pearson and Bill Kirby in another world-record relay victory winning the 4 x 200m. -
Steve Hooker
When Steve Hooker became Australia’s first Olympic pole-vault champion ever at the 2008 Games in Beijing, he made some other dents in history: his was the first track-and-field victory for Australia since Cathy Freeman won the 400m in Sydney 2000; the first by an Australian male since Ralph Doubell won the 800m 40 years prior; and the first by an Australian in a field event since John Winter won the high jump in London, sixty years before. He also set a new Olympic record of 5.96 metres. -
Cadel Evans
Cadel Evans is a former Australian professional racing cyclist who won the 2011 Tour de France. One of the most successful professional cyclists to have emerged from Australia in the recent years, he is a four time Olympian and the first Australian to win the UCI ProTour and the UCI Road World Championships. -
Anna Meares
Having already confirmed her position as the best performed Australian woman cyclist ever she went on to win gold at the London 2012 Games in the women’s sprint along with a bronze in the women’s team sprint. At the 2012 London Olympics, Meares qualified for the final of the sprint, where she again faced Victoria Pendleton. Meares won the second sprint to win 2–0 and take the gold medal. She also won a bronze medal with Kaarle McCulloch in the team sprint. -
Women's Rugby Sevens
Four years ago the team didn’t exist. Now they’re world series champions and Olympic gold medallists. The Australian women’s rugby sevens team have created history, beating New Zealand 24-17 in the gold medal match at the Rio Olympics. The squad includes: Nicole Beck, Charlotte Caslick, Emilee Cherry, Chloe Dalton, Gemma Etheridge, Ellia Green, Shannon Parry, Evania Pelite, Alicia Quirk, Emma Tonegato, Amy Turner and Sharni Williams.
