Influential Australian Athletes

By  //  October 21, 2020

Australian athletes are a phenomenon in their particular field, but they are also caring, loving, and giving individuals that want to spread awareness on so many levels. Check out this list of inspiring athletes from Australia.

Cathy Freeman

Freeman’s honor to light the Olympic Cauldron at the 2000 Sydney Olympics alines with her greatness. Not only that, Freeman won a gold medal in the four-hundred-meter event. A great way to celebrate her victory would be in an online casino and have fun with her friends. I

n 1994, at the Commonwealth Games, she caused widespread controversy when she draped herself in the Australian and Aboriginal flag and ran around the track for a victory lap—yet she ended up becoming known for reconciliation and unity.

She is the founder of the Cathy Freeman Foundation. In her endeavor to equalize education between Indigenous and non-Indigenous kids, her foundation promotes and allows them to access education. In 1998, she was named Australian of the Year and was awarded the Medal of Australia’s Order in 2001.

Michael Long 

Another strong advocate for Indigenous rights is the all-time great of the AFL, Michael Long. He experienced racial abuse and reported the other player for offensive language on the field in 1995 during the Anzac Day game against Collingwood.

He was the first Indigenous player to do this. Those actions motivated the AFL to formulate a new rule to stop the racial and religious abuse in the game. Micheal Long is known for his intense walk from Melbourne to Canberra, where he met with John Howard, the Prime Minister, to discuss indigenous communities in an effort to heighten awareness of the issues that the Indigenous Australians face. This walk took on the name “The Long Walk” and became a charity that has experienced great success.

Nicky Winmar

Another athlete who stood up to racial abuse is Nicky Winmar. He’s an iconic Australian sporting image as an indigenous AFL footballer who has cemented his name in Australian sporting history.

The Collingwood crowd shot out racial taunts in 1993, so he pointed at his chest, lifted his St. Kilda jersey, and shouted, “I’m black, and I’m proud to be black.” This action caused a debate that exposed racism in football for the ugliness that it is and made the AFL, their fans, and Australia examine racism head-on.

Stephanie Gilmore

She’s a World Surfing Champion seven times over and an icon of the sport. With that sort of achievement and only thirty-two-years old, it’s incredible how she has dominated for over ten years. The year 2019 was a difficult one for Gilmore after recording two WSL tour wins but having to relinquish her world crown to Carissa Moore.

Will the Tokyo 2021 games be a go the following year? If so, all eyes will be on Stephanie at the debut Olympic competition. We won’t be surprised as Stephanie Gilmore emerging from the surf as the Olympic Champion.

Liz Cambage

In 2012, at the Olympic Games, she was the first female athlete to dunk, making her a trailblazer in women’s basketball. Cambage made history in her sport with that dunk, but she also set the record for most points scored (53 points) in a WNBA when playing for the Las Vegas Aces back in 2018.

Cambage was the second pick in the 2011 WNBA draft; she has played in China and Australia and then got in the zone with the Aces after becoming the league’s leading scorer. She was also named to the All-WNBA First Team. The 2021 Olympics will be a place to see Cambage face tough competition but also be in a strong position as a medal contender.

Adam Scott   

Adam Scott has proven himself to be Australia’s highest-ranking golfer. He challenges the game’s top names on the international stage while struggling for several years without a win. From Queensland, Adam Scott is quite well known in Australia, more so than Jason Day, another major winner.

As a senior member of the International Presidents Cup team, Adam Scott was part of the stronghold that went extremely close to ending the United States’ grip on the event at Royal Melbourne recently. Even though he has been winless for a few years, he placed second twice in the 2019 season, with nine finishes in the top ten, coming in with over four million in winnings.

Steve Smith

To experience a career in shambles—that was Steve Smith about twelve months ago. That scandal called the “sandpaper scandal” took away his captaincy for twelve months.

The press conference at the Sydney Airport revealed tears of regret, and those tears exposed the damaging scandal for what it was and what it had done to him—a man who lives for cricket. Although the professional Smith is, he returned and picked up right where he left off.