Sports icons that make Australians proud

Stephanie Gilmore has a legitimate claim to being named one of the greatest surfers of all time. She is an eight-time world champion, having won the World Surf League title in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2018, and 2022, proving to be a formidable force for over 15 years – and still looks to be at the top of her game today!

Considered one of the greatest bowlers in the history of cricket, Shane Warne was an icon of the game and revolutionised spin bowling. He took a whopping 708 test wickets in his career, including what has become known as 'the ball of the century'.

In just few years Ash Barty accomplished more on the court than most tennis players do in a lifetime, including three Grand Slam Titles between 2019 and 2022. She surprised the world by retiring from the sport in early 2022 at age 26.

Evonne Goolagong Cawley is a trailblazer of Australian sport. Not only was the former world number one tennis player the first Indigenous Australian to make it to the Grand Slams, but she was also the first mother to win Wimbledon. She won an incredible 14 Grand Slams in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Sir Donald Bradman (a.k.a. "The Don") is recognised as the greatest batsman of all time. His career Test batting average was a staggering 99.94, just short of a 100 after devastatingly going out for a duck in his last-ever game.

Champion sprinter Cathy Freeman is the eighth-fastest woman of all time in the 400-metre event and was a gold medal winner at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Footballer Tim Cahill is the all-time leading goalscorer for Australia and was the first Aussie to score at a FIFA World Cup.

Tennis legend Rod Laver won 11 Grand Slam singles titles and was ranked world number one from 1964 to 1970.

Andrew Bogut can be credited with paving the way for Australians in the NBA. Bogut made history when he was the overall no.1 draft pick in 2005. he was also a part of the Golden State team that won the title in 2015. It's also no coincidence the fortunes of the Boomers, Australia's national side, started to turn when Bogut entered the picture.

Sam Kerr is captain of the Australian women's national soccer team, the Matildas. She also plays for Chelsea in the English FA Women's Super League.

Regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin has booted 944 career goals – the most of any current player. He has won the Coleman Medal four times and has twice kicked the goal of the year.

Philadelphia 76ers point guard Ben Simmons was the number one NBA draft pick in 2016. In 2018 he was the NBA rookie of the year and All-Star in 2019.

Athlete Sally Pearson was 100 metres hurdles World Champion in 2011 and 2017, and won gold at the 2012 Olympics.

Ellyse Perry was just 16 when she debuted in the Australian cricket team. She has since become the first Australian cricketer, male or female, to score 1,000 runs and take 100 wickets in Twenty20 International cricket. A multi-sport talent, she also had a great career in football at the same time, and was a mainstay for the Matildas until she chose to focus solely on cricket in 2015.

Widely regarded as the greatest halfback to play the 13-man game, Andrew Johns represented Australia 26 times, and New South Wales 23 times. He led the Newcastle Knights to their two sole premiership wins in 1997 and 2001. At the height of his career, he was known for his ability to single-handedly change the momentum of a game.

Jason Day is a former World Number One golfer who is one of only three people to win WGC Match Play more than once.

Seven-time World Champion Layne Beachley is the only surfer, male or female, to claim six consecutive world titles.

Dylan Alcott was the youngest member of the Australian "Rollers" wheelchair basketball gold medal-winning team at the Bejing Paralympics in 2008. At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, he won dual gold medals in wheelchair tennis events.

Former Wallabies captain George Gregan is currently Australia's highest ever internationally capped player.

After winning the 2019 Rio Pro, surfer Sally Fitzgibbons was ranked number one in the world. She is one of the most high-profile surfers yet to close in on a World Title win.

Fan-favourite, in large part to his iconic shaggy hair and dark moustache, Dennis Lillie is remembered as a champion fast-bowler and cricketing legend of the 1980s.

Formula One driver Daniel Ricciardo has 8 Grand Prix wins and currently drives for Red Bull Racing.

Former world number one Lleyton Hewitt was the last Australian to win a men's singles Grand Slam title.

You'd be hard-pressed to find an Australian who didn't hold a special place in their heart for Steven Bradbury. While his win at the 2002 Winter Olympics only came about as every other competitor tumbled at the last stretch, he was still the first-ever Australian to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics.

Richmond footballer Dustin Martin has won three premierships, two Jack Dyer Medals, a Brownlow medal and three All-Australian selections. In 2017 he became the only player to have won a Brownlow Medal, Norm Smith Medal and premiership in the same year.

Swimming legend Ian Thorpe has earned his place in the Australian history books with his five Olympic gold medal wins– the most won by any Australian.

Golfing legend Greg Norman spent 331 weeks ranked as the world's number one in the 1980s and 1990s. He won 88 professional tournaments, including 20 PGA Tour tournaments and two majors.

Australian surfer Tyler Wright was back-to-back WSL Women's World Champion in 2016 and 2017.

AFL great and former Hawks captain Leigh Mathews is considered the best AFL player of the 20th century. He won a Coleman Medal in 1975 was the club’s leading goalkicker five times between 1973 - 1984.

Perhaps the greatest legend in Australian sport is the 1930 Melbourne Cup Winner Phar Lap. The New Zealand-born thoroughbred also won two Cox Plates, an AJC Derby, and the Agua Caliente Handicap in Tijuana, Mexico, in what was to be his final race. He's still colloquially mentioned in everyday Australian lingo.

Who is your favourite? Who have we missed? C'mon, let us know in the comments!