Revealed: Gold Coast’s greatest Olympian of all time
Gold Coast has voted for who they believe is city’s greatest Olympian of all time. See the complete results here.
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RECORD-BREAKING queen of the pool Emma McKeon has been crowned the Gold Coast’s greatest Olympian of all time by the city.
The city’s residents voted for who they believe is the greatest Gold Coaster to feature in the global event, picking from 25 athletes the Bulletin ranked as our best.
McKeon, who produced her most successful Olympic campaign after training with Michael Bohl’s squad at Griffith University’s Southport campus, was the clear winner, polling 42 per cent of the votes.
The 27-year-old was Australia’s most successful Olympian in Tokyo, winning four gold medals, including the 50m and 100m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle relay and 4x100m medley relay.
She also won bronze in the 100m butterfly, 4x200m freestyle relay and 4x100m mixed medley. Her success in Tokyo took her overall medal haul to 11, the most of any Australian Olympian.
Coming in second was Grant Hackett at 18 per cent, while Sally Pearson (12 per cent), sailer Mat Belcher, Glynis Nunn (5 per cent) rounded out the top five.
EARLIER:
THE feats of Gold Coast athletes has formed the backbone of Australia’s Olympic success in Tokyo.
It adds to a rich history of Glitter Strip stars who have taken on, and beaten, the world’s most decorated sportsmen and women.
Griffith University swim sensation Emma McKeon, BMX freestyle ace Logan Martin and skateboarding whiz kid Keegan Palmer are among those to win gold already in Tokyo.
So where do they rate among Gold Coast’s greatest Olympians?
The Bulletin has crunched the numbers and ranked the top 25 Gold Coast Olympians.
To qualify for nomination, athletes needed to either live or train on the Gold Coast during the time of their Olympic success.
VOTE FOR WHO YOU THINK IS GOLD COAST’S GREATEST OLYMPIAN IN OUR POLL AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS STORY.
25. CAROL BERNOTH
How can we go past Gold Coast’s very first Olympian? The star from Coolangatta competed at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, finishing 14th in the high jump. A true trailblazer for her city and country.
24. ANNA WOOD AND KATRIN BORCHERT
A formidable duo in the canoe sprints. Wood and Borchert combined to win bronze in the K2 500m at the 1996 Atlanta Games, finishing behind Sweden and Germany. Borchert also finished seventh in the K1500m. Interestingly, both started their lives and careers overseas. Wood was Dutch-born and competed at four-Olympics while Borchert previously represented Germany before moving to Australia.
23. EMMA MOFFATT:
A three-time Olympian who was part of Australia’s most successful women’s triathlon campaign at a Games. Moffatt claimed bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the same race fellow Gold Coaster Emma Snowsill won gold.
22. GREG BROUGH
Before Kieran Perkins and Grant Hackett dominated one of the most challenging swim races there is, the 1500m, there was Greg Brough. The Gold Coaster secured bronze in the long distance race at the 1968 Mexico Olympics.
21. WAYNE HAMMOND
The Australian Kookaburras hockey team has endured heartbreak in Tokyo after finishing with silver, courtesy of a final loss to Belgium in a shootout. One man who knows their pain is Wayne Hammond. Hammond was part of the Australian side that lost the Olympic final at the Montreal Games in 1976. It was his second Olympics and he was denied the chance to go for the gold again in a third Games when Australia boycotted the Moscow Olympics in 1980.
20. BRITTANY BROBEN
At the age of just 16 Broben inspired the nation, winning silver in the 10m platform diving event at the 2012 London Olympics.
19. GRANT DAVIES
It was a gold medal that turned to silver for Davies at the 1988 Seol Games. Davies crossed the finish line with nothing separating he and American Greg Barton in the K1 1000m final, with the scoreboard showing Davies as the winner. His win sparked his father Dick, who had suffered horrific injures after being knocked off his bicycle a year earlier, to stand up out of his wheelchair and applaud. Eleven minutes later it was revealed there had been a mistake and that Barton was the actual winner, by 8mm.
“The other bloke won it fair and square so what can you say, good luck to him. If this is the biggest disappointment of my life then I’ve got no worries,” Davies said of the matter.
18. LORETTA HARROP
One of Australia’s toughest triathletes ever. Harrop won silver at the 2004 Athens Olympics. She led for almost the entire race but was ultimately overtaken by Austrian Kate Allen in the home straight.
17. JENNY WHITTLE
A two-time Olympic basketballer who won a medal at both the 1996 Atlanta Games and 2000 Sydney Olympics. Whittle and the Opals won bronze in 1996 in what was the first ever international basketball medal Australia had ever won. The side and Whittle went one better in Sydney in 2000, taking silver.
16. THOMAS GREEN AND JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN
A Gold Coast lifesaving prodigy in Green and a former South African in Van Der Westhuyzen, the best mates from the Glitter Strip joined the ranks of the city’s greatest Olympians by winning gold in the K2 1000m canoe sprint at the Tokyo Olympics.
15. DANIEL KOWALSKI
A two-time Olympian who won silver (1500m freestyle) and two bronze medals (200m and 400m freestyle) at the 1996 Atlanta Games before winning gold as part of the 4x200m freestyle relay team in 2000.
14. GIAAN ROONEY
Multiple games and a swag of medals. Rooney won two silver medals as part of the 4x100m and 4x200m freestyle relay teams at the 2000 Olympics. It was a huge achievement but her best result came at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games where she won a gold medal in world record time as part of the 4x100m medley relay team. Rooney swam a personal best and new Australian record time of 1:01.18 to help Australia to the gold – the maiden victory by Australia in this event at an Olympic Games.
13. MELANIE WRIGHT (NEE SCHLANGER)
A woman who won all three medal colours over the course of two Olympic campaigns. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics Wright won gold in the 4x200m freestyle relay and bronze in the 4x100m freestyle relay. In 2012 Wright won gold in the 4x100m freestyle relay, silver in the 4x200m freestyle relay and silver in the 4x100m freestyle.
12. DUNCAN FREE
Dunan Free is regarded as one of the greatest oarsmen in Australian rowing history.
Free just missed out on getting a medal in the men’s quad sculls at the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games before taking a year off.
He returned and switched to sweep rowing, combining with Drew Ginn to become the world’s best coxless pair. The duo went on to win gold at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
11. DEBBIE BOWMAN-SULLIVAN
An accomplished hockey player who created history by helping guide Australia’s women’s team to gold in Seoul in 1988. It was Australia’s first Olympic gold medal in any teams event.
10. KEEGAN PALMER
The kid from Currumbin made history in Tokyo this week by becoming the first male to win the new Olympic event of skateboarding.
The 18-year-old produced the two highest scores in the final, a 94.04 and then a 95.83, to win gold.
9. LOGAN MARTIN
Logan Martin became Australia’s first BMX freestyle gold medallist in Tookyo earlier this week, dominating the final to make history.
Martin built his own skatepark in his Maudsland backyard before refining his tricks on a replica of the Tokyo course that the Gold Coast City Council constructed in Carrara.
8. SARA CARRIGAN
The cyclist had a stellar riding career but her highlight came at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games where she won the 130km road race.
7. EMMA FRODENO (NEE SNOWSILL)
Arguably Australia’s greatest triathlete. Frodeno won gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. She took the lead in the final run leg of the race to win the race.
6. KEN WALLACE
A paddler who won medals at two Olympics, eight years apart. Wallace won gold in the K1 500m canoe sprint at the 2008 Olympics and bronze in the K1 1000m. He returned in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, taking bronze in the K2 1000m sprint.
5. SALLY PEARSON
A two-time Olympian who won silver in the 100m hurdles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics before going one better to win the gold at the 2012 Games in London.
4. GLYNIS NUNN
A trailblazer like few others. Nunn won the inaugural heptathlon gold medal in the events first Olympic appearance in Los Angeles in 1984. The competition was close but Nunn beat runner-up Jackie Joyner-kersee by five points to win the gold medal.
3. MAT BELCHER
Three Olympic appearances that have delivered two golds and one silver for the legendary sailor. Belcher will go down as one of Gold Coast’s greatest ever Olympians. The Southport Yacht Club member and Bond University graduate won gold in the two person dinghy race in 2012 in London before claiming silver in Rio in 2016. In the last Olympic race of its kind before the discipline goes to mixed gender teams, Belcher and partner Will Ryan dominated over 11 races to win gold in Tokyo.
2. GRANT HACKETT
An absolute force to be reckoned with in the pool and a man who trained harder than just about anyone. The three-time Olympian won gold in the 1500m freestyle at the 2000 Sydney Games and another in the 4x200m freestyle relay. Hackett defended his 1500m crown four years later in Athens where he also won silver in the 400m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle relay. In his last Olympic campaign in 2012, Hackett took silver in the 1500m freestyle and bronze in the 4x200m freestyle relay.
1. EMMA MCKEON:
Australia’s most successful Olympian. Originally from Wollongon, McKeon’s most successful Olympic campaign has come during her time training under Michael Bohl at Griffith University’s Southport campus. McKeon won four gold medals in Tokyo, including the 50m and 100m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle relay and 4x100m medley relay. She also won bronze in the 100m butterfly, 4x200m freestyle relay and 4x100m mixed medley. Her success in Tokyo took her overall medal haul to 11, the most of any Australian Olympian.
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