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1950
1952 Lew Hoad-
Lew Hoad was a professional Australian tennis player ranked as one of the 21 best players of all time. For five straight years, beginning in 1952, he was ranked in the world top 10 for amateurs, reaching the World No. 1 spot in 1956. Hoad was a member of the Australian tennis team between 1952 and 1956 he won the Davis Cup four times. Hoad won four Grand Slam tournaments as an amateur, and won the 1959 Tournament of Champions as a professional. -
1950
1956 Murray Rose-
Murray Rose emerged from the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne as a national hero at the age of 17. As a professional swimmer his career started at the age of 5 at his first swimming lesson, coming from England from where he was born. Rose won the first of his three gold medals in the Melbourne Olympic games in 1956. He was a six-time Olympic medallist and at one time held the world records in the 400-metre, 800-metre, and 1500-metre freestyle. -
1950
1956 Betty Cuthbert-
Betty Cuthbert will forever be known as the Golden Girl of the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games, where she won 3 sprinting gold medals at the age of 18. In nine days she won the 100m, the 200m and anchored the team that won the 4 x 100m relay - becoming the first Australian female, ever to win three gold medals at a single Olympic Games. Her devoutness and strong spirit she has always possessed, have sustained her mightily and through Australia’s Society. -
1960
1962 Margaret Smith-
Margaret Smith, is a retired world No. 1 professional tennis player. She began playing tennis when she was 8 years old and was 17 in 1960 when she won the first of seven consecutive singles titles at the Australian Championships. Margaret 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 in 1963 she became the first Australian woman to win Wimbledon. -
1960
1966 St George Dragons-
The St George Dragons are an Australian Rugby league football club in St George, Sydney, playing in the top-level competition from 1921. As a stand-alone club, they field teams in the NSWRL underage competitions. Over the past years the St George club won 15 premierships, including 11 in succession between 1956 and 1966, a record for sporting competitions at the time. -
1960
1969 Ron Barassi-
Ron Barassi was a Australian rules football player and coach. Barassi has been one of the most important figures in the history of Australian football. Ron’s father was also a prominent Australian rules footballer, but was unfortunately killed during World War II. With his father gone Ron was determined to follow in his father's footsteps. Ron was the first player to be introduced to the Australian Football Hall of Fame as a "Legend". -
1970
1971 Evonne Goolagong-
Evonne Goolagong is an Australian former World No. 1 female tennis player for Australia. She was one of the world's leading players in the 1970s and early 1980s, when she won 14 Grand Slam titles: seven in singles, six in women's doubles, and one in mixed doubles. Evonne won her first Wimbledon tennis championships is 1971. During the 1970s, she played in seventeen Grand Slam singles finals, a period record for any player, man or woman. -
1970
1972 Shane Gould-
By the age of 6, Shane Gould was a competent swimmer. At the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Gould won 3 gold medals, setting a world record in each race. Also winning a bronze and a silver medal. She is the only person to hold every world freestyle record. She is the first female swimmer ever to win three Olympic gold medals in world record time, and the first swimmer, male or female, to win Olympic medals in five individual events in a single Olympics. -
1970
1974 Football World cup-
In year 1974, the Australian football team qualified for the 1974 FIFA World Cup, the first successful qualification to the FIFA World Cup in the country's history after failing to qualify to the 1966 and 1970 tournaments. It would prove to be the only appearance for the Australian team for more than three decades competing in the World cup. -
1980
1980 Peter Evans-
West Australian Peter Evans was one of the finest breaststrokers Australia has produced. Evans had a late start to his swimming career, making his debut at the Australian championships aged 17. In 1980 he won a gold medal alongside Mark Tonelli, Mark Kerry and Neil Brooks in the 4x100m medley relay. He swam a PB in the final, a performance which was vital to securing the win. Evans also won a bronze medal in the 100m breaststroke. -
1980
1981 Women’s cricket-
In international women's cricket, Australia won the World Cup in 1981/2 and 1988/9 and produced many outstanding individual performances. In 1987, Denise Annetts scored 193 against England, breaking the world record for runs scored in a women's Test cricket match. This was the beginning of equal opportunity for women in the 1980s were able to entitle to full membership and unrestricted access to sporting clubs. -
1980
1983 America’s cup (sailing yacht)-
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 group of individuals 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. -
1990
1991 Rugby Union-
The 1991 Rugby World Cup Final was the second edition of the rugby union competition, to decide the world champions. The match was played on the 2nd of November 1991 at Twickenham Stadium, London. Australia also known as the Wallabies had won their first Rugby Union world cup tournament with the score 12–6. -
1990
1992 Kieren Perkins-
Kieren Perkins began swimming at the age of 8 years old, as part of his rehabilitation from a serious leg injury after running through a plate glass window. Kieren is an Australian former competition swimmer, four-time Olympic medalist and former world record-holder in three events. One of the world's best-ever long-distance swimmers, he won two Olympic gold medals in 1992 and 1996 in the 1500-metre freestyle. -
1990
1999 Cathy Freeman-
Cathy Freeman is an Australian former sprinter, who specialised in the 400m event. Her personal best of 48.63 currently ranks her as the sixth fastest woman of all time. Freeman was the first Australian Indigenous person to become a Commonwealth Games gold medallist at age 16. After a break from running due to injury, she returned in form with a first place in the 400 m at the 1999 World Championships captivating Australia. -
2000
2000 Matt Ryan-
Matt Ryan is an Olympic-level equestrian rider. He is a triple Olympic gold medalist who competed for Australia. He has won three Olympic gold medals including one at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Ryan was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2000. -
2000
2000 Lleyton Hewitt-
At the age of 20 Lleyton Hewitt became the youngest male ever to be ranked no. 1 in the world in singles. In 2000, Hewitt reached his first Grand Slam final at the Wimbledon mixed doubles. Hewitt later won his first Grand Slam title at the US Open when he along with Max Mirnyi claimed the men's doubles championship and becoming the youngest male to win a Grand Slam doubles crown in the open era. -
2000
2004 Suzy Balogh-
When Suzy Balogh won the women’s trapshooting event at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, she became the first female Australian shooting gold medallist in history. Balogh, ranked No. 20 in the world and making her first Olympic appearance, was regarded as an underdog at the Athens Games. -
2010
2015 Michelle Payne-
Michelle Payne is an Australian jockey. She won the 2015 Melbourne Cup, riding Prince of Penzance, and was the first female jockey to win the event. She is the youngest of 10 children and 7 of her siblings also are jockeys. Payne was the first woman to win the Melbourne Cup in its 155-year history. She was also the fourth woman to ride in the race. -
2010
2016 Chloe Esposito-
Chloe Esposito is an Australian shooter and modern pentathlon competitor. She competed at the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games. She represented Australia at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the modern pentathlon and won the gold medal in the same event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. -
2010
2016 Cronulla Sharks-
The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league team based in Cronulla. They compete in the National Rugby League, Australasia's premier rugby league competition. The Sharks have been in competition for 49 years, appearing in four grand finals, winning their first premiership after a very close game in 2016 after defeating the Melbourne Storm at ANZ Stadium 12 to 14.
