Who is the best Australian sporting export of the 21st century?

Australia has an extraordinarily deep treasure-trove of sporting exports, but who is our best athlete of the past 25 years?

Sports fans Down Under have been incredibly blessed with Australia producing some phenomenal talent throughout the 21st century.

Trawling through all of the extraordinary athletes our country has produced and attempting to crown one that stands above the rest is a mission not even Tom Cruise could accomplish.

To celebrate the launch of the new news.com.au app, we’re celebrating the people, places and events we’ll never forget from the first quarter of the 21st century by asking for Australia’s view. Our 25@25 series will finally put to bed the debates you’ve been having at the pub and around dinner tables for years – and some that are just too much fun not to include.

Now this isn’t a straightforward recipe here and culling the list down was no easy task, but there are a few little caveats.

Number one: The athlete’s success must most notably have come abroad.

Number two: The success has to have occurred within the first quarter of the 21st century.

Number three: we left out Olympians. Some of the athletes on the list might have participated in Olympic Games but they’re here because of their performances in other competitions

With that in mind, here’s the list we came up with that we are now handing over to you to vote for who is Australia’s best sporting export for our 25@25 series.

Who came close but ultimately didn’t make the cut

Karrie Webb

The Queensland golf sensation’s major record remains the best of any Aussie golfer, male or female and earnt her a welcome place in the Hall of Fame.

A seven-time LPGA major championships winner, Webb was only held out from our top 10 after achieving a host of her success prior to the turn of the century.

“She was unbelievable and at a time when there wasn’t much talk about female athletes, she was on prime time news winning tournaments all around the world,” Aussie basketball great Lauren Jackson told news.com.au.

“Everybody remembers what happens now in the present, they don’t remember how incredible Karrie Webb was.”

Which Aussie athlete’s can make a claim as the greatest sporting export of the past 25 years

Stephanie Gilmore is widely regarded as one of the greatest surfers in the history of the sport.

Tim Cahill’s impact on football in Australia is unlike any other player that has ever graced the pitch.

Lauren Jackson will long be remembered as the greatest Australian basketball player to ever grace the hardwood. Her achievements on the court are simply unmatched.

Alexander Volkanovski is arguably the greatest UFC featherweight of all time and cemented his spot in the GOAT debate by winning the title for a second time earlier this year.

Sam Kerr was an easy add to this list, the Matildas superstar remains Australia’s all-time leading international goal scorer and became the first ever female footballer to grace the cover of a FIFA video game.

Adam Scott remains the only Australian to win a fabled green jacket when he toppled Angel Cabrera on the second-playoff hole at the 2013 Masters and is one of only three Aussies to reach the number one rank.

Ash Barty is yet another undeniable addition to the list. The tennis superstar won 15 WTA titles, three grand slams while also adding 12 doubles titles including one major.

Cadel Evans might not be one that instantly springs to mind but he’s more than worthy of being here. He remains the only Aussie to win the historic Tour de France, one of only three non-European winners of the race.

Stephanie Gilmore has an almost unmatched record on the waves with the Aussie capturing a staggering eight WSL world championship crowns along with 34 championship tour wins.

Lleyton Hewitt remains etched in sporting folklore thanks to his famous “c’mon” catchcry. He achieved more than any Aussie male tennis player has over the past 25 years with two grand slams and two ATP Tour Finals wins.

Jordan Mailata gave up on his NRL dream and attempted to make it in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2018. The hulking Aussie proved everybody wrong by becoming the best offensive line tackle in the league, and making history in the 2025 Super Bowl victory.

Tim Cahill impacted the sport of football unlike any other player Australia has ever produced. He helped secure the Socceroos their first ever win at a World Cup with a double in 2006 before scoring one of the greatest World Cup goals ever seen in 2014.

What the experts had to say

Now of course the results of this entirely depend on you, our audience, to vote on who you believe is our greatest sporting export.

But we also had to turn to some experts to weigh in on who they believe deserves to be the one with the crown.

Shane Heal - Australian basketball great

Pick: Ash Barty

It’s got to be Ash Barty. The way she dominated a truly global sport, the way she did it as the number one and then walked away at the top of the game.

Not sure if we’ve ever seen somebody retire at that age, at their very best and after dominating at so many events.

Incredible, truly incredible what she did. You take into account her physique, she’s not big and long and powerful, she was just a truly unbelievable athlete. To be able to do what she did on the world stage, she’s our greatest Aussie export.

Katrina Gorry - Matildas superstar

Pick: Ash Barty

Mark Howard - Fox Sports presenter

Pick: Cadel Evans

I would say the best Australian sporting export would be Cadel Evans. Winning the Tour de France ... no Australian has done it before. It’s a European dominated sport. And that performance was truly extraordinary, so I would have to say Evans is the one that stands out to me.

But I must say if we’re doing this in 10 years, I think that performance could potentially be surpassed by Oscar (Piastri) and Gout Gout. I think if he (Gout) wins an Olympic 100m final it might go down as the greatest Australian sporting achievement of all time.

Not just a sports fanatic? Take the rest of our 25@25 polls