Famous Australian Sportspersons

Australian former tennis player Rod Laver is widely regarded to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time. He was ranked world No. 1 in nine different years. He holds 200 singles titles--the most in tennis history. He excelled on a variety of court surfaces: grass, clay, hard, carpet, and wood/parquet. The Laver Cup Tournament is named after him.

Daniel Ricciardo is an Italian-Australian racing driver. He currently competes in Formula One for McLaren. Over the years, Ricciardo has had eight Grand Prix victories, including a win at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, in Formula One. He has also received several awards like BRDC The Bruce McLaren Trophy. In 2014, he was named GQ Australia Sportsman of the Year.

Shane Warne was a former Australian cricket player, best known for his leg-break bowling. Widely regarded as one of the greatest spin bowlers of all time, Warne was the second-highest wicket-taker in test cricket. He was also one of the most controversial cricketers. In 2013, Shane Warne was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

Australian cricketer, Sir Donald Bradman, is widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. He started playing cricket as a young man and scored numerous records within a few years. In a career spanning around two decades, he retired with a career test batting average of 99.94. He retained a pre-eminent position in the game for decades following his retirement. 

Australian cricketer Steve Smith captained the Australian Test team and also tied with Garry Sobers when he made a record 6,000 Test runs in 111 innings, the second-best after Donald Bradman. The Allan Border Medal-winning batsman was banned from Australian cricket for a year for overseeing ball tampering.

Cathy Freeman is a former sprinter known for her achievements in the 400 meters events. Her personal best of 48.63, set at the 1996 Olympics, makes her the eighth-fastest woman of all time. She gave Australia an Olympic gold at the 2000 Olympics. Also a humanitarian, Freeman is credited with founding the Cathy Freeman Foundation.

Legendary Australian tennis player Evonne Goolagong Cawley was once world number 1 and the world’s first mother to earn a Wimbledon win in 66 years. A Wiradjuri Aborigine, she is now part of the International Tennis Hall of Fame and also became the Australian of the Year in 1971.

Kostya Tszyu is a former boxer who held multiple light-welterweight championships. Renowned for his punching power, Tszyu is considered one of the hardest-punching boxers in the history of light-welterweight boxing. He represented the Soviet Union at the 1991 World Championships, where he won a gold medal. In 2010, Tszyu was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Jason Day is an Australian golfer who won the 2015 PGA Championship. A former world number one, Day was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2015. In the same year, Jason Day was also honored with the Greg Norman Medal. In 2016, he received the Mark H. McCormack Award.

Ricky Ponting is an Australian retired cricket player best known for his abilities as a batsman, fielder, and captain. Widely regarded as one of the modern-time greats, Ponting is the leading run-scorer for Australia in Test and ODI cricket. Ponting captained the Australian Test team between 2004 and 2011 and is considered one of the most successful cricket captains of all time.

Rhea Ripley is an Australian wrestler best known for her association with the popular wrestling promotion, WWE. She is the current WWE Women's Tag Team Champion along with Nikki A.S.H. In 2019, she was named Breakthrough Wrestler of the Year by CBS Sports. In April 2021, Ripley became the first female Australian to win the WWE Raw Women's Championship title.

Aziz Shavershian was a Russian-born Australian personal trainer, bodybuilder, and model. He started posting videos on YouTube in 2007, establishing a cult following. Aziz was the poster boy of aesthetics, a subculture of amateur bodybuilding. Before his death, due to a heart attack, Aziz Shavershian had established a clothing line and his own protein label called Protein of the Gods.

Pat Rafter became the first Australian male in the Open Era to win consecutive US Open titles. The former ATP singles number 1 is also the only person with an undefeated record against tennis legend Roger Federer and is remembered for his politeness and his habit of saying “Sorry, mate.”

Mark Webber is an Australian former racing driver. From 2002 to 2013, Webber competed in Formula One, winning the 2010 British Grand Prix. From 2014 to 2016, he competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship, winning the 2015 season for Porsche alongside Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley. In 2019, Mark Webber was inducted into the FIA Hall of Fame.

Australian former professional footballer Timothy F. Cahill was known for "his aggressive and powerful approach and his ability to head the ball in the penalty area" during his playing years. Having scored 50 goals in 108 caps, he is the all-time leading goalscorer for the Australia national team. Currently, he works as a pundit for BBC Sport and Sky Sports. 

Alexander Volkanovski is an Australian mixed martial artist who currently competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Volkanovski is the current featherweight champion in UFC and is currently ranked fourth in the UFC men's pound-for-pound list. Alexander Volkanovski has had one successful title defense and one Fight of the Night honor in his UFC career so far.

Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios, who has had a career-best singles ranking of 13, has also been part of a few controversies. During a 2019 Wimbledon match, he apparently deliberately hit Rafael Nadal with a ball, straight in the chest, and later defended his actions, saying it was completely fair.

Throughout his 25-year illustrious career, Australian tennis legend Ken Rosewall has won 18 Grand Slams, including 8 singles titles. Known for his 5’7” lean frame, he was nicknamed Muscles by his teammates, apparently, for the lack of them. The son of a grocer, he had begun playing tennis at age 3.

Jack Brabham was an Australian professional racing driver best remembered for winning the Formula One World Championship thrice during his illustrious career that lasted 15 years. He is credited with founding the eponymous Formula One racing team and racing car manufacturer. Early in his career, Brabham contributed immensely to the design of racing cars introduced by the Cooper Car Company.

Margaret Court is an Australian retired tennis player. She is a former world No. 1 with 24 Grand Slam women's singles titles to her name. She also holds 19 Grand Slam doubles titles and 21 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. She is considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time. Following her retirement, she became a Christian minister. 

Legendary Australian cricketer Allan Border, also popularly known as AB, remains to be regarded as one of the best batsmen the game has ever had. Under his captaincy, Australia didn’t just win a World Cup but also brought back the Ashes in 1989. He is also one of Australia’s 100 National Living Treasures.

David Warner is an Australian professional cricket player. An opening batsman, Warner is one of the most important members of the Australia men's national cricket team in all three formats of the game. Warner was caught up in an ugly controversy in 2018 after being involved in a ball-tampering scandal in the midst of a Test series against South Africa.

Roy Emerson is a former tennis player from Australia. A former world No. 1, Emerson won 16 Grand Slam doubles titles and 12 Grand Slam singles titles, which includes a career Grand Slam in both singles and doubles. Emerson went on to achieve another career Grand Slam, becoming the first man to complete a double career Grand Slam in singles.

Pat Cash is an Australian retired tennis player renowned for popularizing the act of climbing into the stands to celebrate. The celebration, which has been carried on as a tradition, was first showcased by Cash in 1987 when he won the men's singles championship title at Wimbledon. Cash was also part of the Davis Cup-winning team in 1983 and 1986.

Mitchell Starc is an Australian international cricketer. He plays for the Australian national team in international cricket and New South Wales in domestic cricket. Primarily a left-arm fast bowler, he is also a capable lower-order left-handed batsman. He was part of the Australian squad that won the 2015 Cricket World Cup. He is married to fellow cricketer Alyssa Healy. 

Usman Khawaja is an Australian professional cricket player who has represented the Australian men's cricket team in Test, One Day International, and Twenty20 cricket. In 2011, he became the first Pakistani-born player and the first Muslim to play for the Australian Test team. He went on to represent Australia at the 2019 Cricket World Cup.

Peter Norman was an Australian athlete who won a silver medal in the 200 meters event at the 1968 Summer Olympics. He is remembered for supporting fellow athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos by wearing the Olympic Project for Human Rights badge during their medal ceremony; he is the third athlete seen in the popular Olympics Black Power salute photograph.

Billie Kay is an Australian professional wrestler best known for her time in WWE. She was part of the tag team The IIconics alongside Peyton Royce. She was interested in wrestling from a young age and was trained by Madison Eagles. She was once associated with the Pro Wrestling Women's Alliance promotion. She now competes on the independent circuit. 

Dawn Fraser is an Australian freestyle champion swimmer. She won the Olympic individual event the women's 100-meter freestyle three times in her career. She also won six Commonwealth Games gold medals. Much respected for her athletic abilities, she was also known for her controversial behavior. She became a swimming coach after her retirement. She is also a former politician.

Alan Stanley Jones is an Australian retired professional motor racing driver best known for winning the first Formula One World Championship in 1980 and only the second Australian to achieve the feat after three-time world champion Jack Brabham. In 1989, Alan Stanley Jones was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.

Tour de France-winning Australian cyclist Cadel Evans is also a four-time Olympian. His career took off when he earned a scholarship to the mountain biking program of the Australian Institute of Sport. An avid philanthropist, he has an adopted son from Ethiopia, along with a son from his second wife.

Australian tennis player Samantha Stosur, once world number 1 in doubles, has also had a career-high ranking of 4 in singles. She holds a national WTA record of being the top player for 442 consecutive weeks. Openly lesbian, she had a daughter with her partner, Liz Astling, in 2020.