10 Inspiring Women in Sport

Shouting out the athletes who make bringing the heat look deceptively easy

Emma Mckeon for Victoria Racing Carnival

When it comes to sport Australia has no shortage of exciting moments on the calendar. Chief among them is the Melbourne Cup Carnival,

not least of all for the opportunity to get dressed up. But before we revel in the spirit, let’s take a step back and acknowledge the sensational year our Australian athletes have had. From Olympians to equestrians, surfers and ace servers, these athletes are pushing the boundaries in all the right ways.

Ariarne Titmus

She electrified the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games with her incredible performance in the swimming pool, and took home two gold medals, a silver and a bronze for her efforts. But next up, we’ll catch 21-year-old Titmus cheering trackside in her role as the official ambassador for the Lexus Melbourne Cup. Incredibly, Titmus got her sporting start riding horses at home in Tasmania, even competing in dressage and show jumping before she made the move to swimming full time.

Ellia Green

Though they started their sporting career in athletics, Fijian-born Ellia Green switched to rugby sevens in their teens and went on to debut for Australia in 2013. Eventually playing for Australia at the 2016 Olympics, Green helped the team win the inaugural gold medal in the sport. They are also a UN Women National Committee Australia ambassador, championing women’s empowerment and gender equality.

Liz Watson

Claiming a premiership win in her debut season playing at an elite level, netball icon Liz Watson has gone on to establish herself as one of the greatest players in Australia – and even the world. A Melbourne Vixens mainstay, she also reps Australia on an international level. Watson won silver at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, and - despite being sidelined with a foot injury - was just named captain of the Australian Diamonds.

Emma Booth

A Victoria Racing Club Ambassador whose love of horses was spurned early on thanks to - what else? - The Saddle Club, Emma Booth grew up to become a promising equestrian in her teens and early 20s. Then, in 2013, a car accident saw her spend four months in hospital and left her a paraplegic. Incredibly, she returned to riding seven months after the accident and, in 2016, realised her dream of competing at an Olympic level when she joined the Australian team at the 2016 Rio Paralympics (and proving her mettle, she made the team again for Tokyo).

Meg Lanning

Helping to create the greatest team in women’s cricket history is a pretty stellar accolade, and it’s one that Meg Lanning has more than earned. She was appointed captain of the Australian team at 21 years old (the youngest Aussie captain ever), and has used her trademark level-headed approach to the game to steer the team to multiple championships, while chalking up the record for most Women’s One Day International centuries too.

Ash Barty

The most surreal thing about tennis superstar Ash Barty is not the lengthy list of championships she’s won (hello, Wimbledon), or rankings she has topped, or the experience of watching her general mastery on the court. It’s the fact that she’s done it all before her 26th birthday. Currently world number one, Barty also serves as a National Indigenous Tennis Ambassador and was named Young Australian of the Year in 2020.

Michelle Payne OAM

There’s no shortage of female Australian racing royalty – but at the very top resides jockey Michelle Payne. For most, you’ll know her as the first and only female to win the Melbourne Cup, when she rode Prince of Penzance to glory in 2015 (or perhaps you caught Teresa Palmer playing Payne in 2019’s Ride Like A Girl). Today, she is an acclaimed trainer and was honoured with the Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2021 Australia Day Honours.

Stephanie Gilmore

Appropriately nicknamed ‘Happy’, Stephanie Gilmore is a literal ray of sunshine in addition to being one of the most successful surfers of all time. A seven-time world champion (and she’s not done yet), Gilmore is renowned for her style atop the waves, drawing crowds on beaches from Manly to Mexico.

Emma McKeon

Considering the success Australians have in the pool, it can be tough to stake your claim as one of swimming’s finest. But becoming the most decorated Olympic athlete Australia has ever had definitely helps... and Emma McKeon did just that in Tokyo. Sign us up for that swim school.

Madison De Rozario

Though she’s a gold medal-winning para-athlete, world record holder and quickly earning a place in history as an legend of wheelchair racing, de Rozario’s biggest claim to fame might just be the fact that she was immortalised as a Barbie doll for the “Shero” collection of inspiring dolls created in the likeness of powerful female role models.