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The Most Famous

ATHLETES from Australia

This page contains a list of the greatest Australian Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 3,059 Athletes, 84 of which were born in Australia. This makes Australia the birth place of the 15th most number of Athletes behind Norway and Canada.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Australian Athletes of all time. This list of famous Australian Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Australian Athletes.

1. Peter Norman (1942 - 2006)

With an HPI of 56.29, Peter Norman is the most famous Australian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 30 different languages on wikipedia.

Peter George Norman (15 June 1942 – 3 October 2006) was an Australian track athlete. He won the silver medal in the 200 metres at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, with a time of 20.06 seconds, which remains the Oceania 200m record. He was a five-time national 200-metre champion. Norman is probably best known as the third athlete in the famous 1968 Olympics protest salute photograph taken during the medal ceremony for the 200-metre event. He knew the salute was to occur and wore a badge of the Olympic Project for Human Rights in support of fellow athletes John Carlos and Tommie Smith.

2. Bobby Pearce (1905 - 1976)

With an HPI of 51.01, Bobby Pearce is the 2nd most famous Australian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Henry Robert Pearce (30 September 1905 – 20 May 1976) was an Australian three-time world champion sculler of the 1920s and 1930s. He won consecutive Olympic gold medals in the single sculls at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam and the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. He won the World Sculling Championship in 1933, and twice successfully defended that title in 1934 and 1938. He was a three-time Australian national champion and won the Diamond Sculls at the 1931 Henley Royal Regatta.

3. Ron Clarke (1937 - 2015)

With an HPI of 50.21, Ron Clarke is the 3rd most famous Australian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Ronald William Clarke, AO, MBE (21 February 1937 – 17 June 2015) was an Australian athlete, writer, and the Mayor of the Gold Coast from 2004 to 2012. He was one of the best-known middle- and long-distance runners in the 1960s, notable for setting seventeen world records.

4. Nick Winter (1894 - 1955)

With an HPI of 47.76, Nick Winter is the 4th most famous Australian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Anthony William "Nick" Winter (25 August 1894 – 6 May 1955) was an Australian sportsman. He won the gold medal in the triple jump at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, in the process setting a new world record. His medal-winning jump remained an Australian record until 1960.

5. John Landy (1930 - 2022)

With an HPI of 46.40, John Landy is the 5th most famous Australian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

John Michael Landy (12 April 1930 – 24 February 2022) was an Australian middle-distance runner and state governor. He was the second man to break the four-minute mile barrier in the mile run and held the world records for the 1500-metre run and the mile race. He was also the 26th Governor of Victoria from 2001 to 2006.

6. Betty Cuthbert (1938 - 2017)

With an HPI of 45.91, Betty Cuthbert is the 6th most famous Australian Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Elizabeth Alyse Cuthbert, (20 April 1938 – 6 August 2017), was an Australian athlete and a four-time Olympic champion. She was nicknamed Australia's "Golden Girl". During her career, she set world records for 60 metres, 100 yards, 200 metres, 220 yards and 440 yards. Cuthbert also contributed to Australian relay teams completing a win in the 4 × 100 metres, 4 × 110 yards, 4 × 200 metres and 4 × 220 yards. Cuthbert had a distinctive running style, with a high knee lift and mouth wide open. She was named in 1998 an Australian National Treasure and was inducted as a Legend in the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Athletics Australia Hall of Fame in 2000.

7. John Winter (1924 - 2007)

With an HPI of 45.61, John Winter is the 7th most famous Australian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

John Arthur "Jack" Winter (3 December 1924 – 5 December 2007) was an Australian high jumper who won that event at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London with a jump of 1.98 metres (6 ft. 6 in.). A 23-year-old bank teller, Winter is Australia's only Olympic high jump gold medalist.

Pantheon has 85 people classified as athletes born between 1876 and 2001. Of these 85, 66 (77.65%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living athletes include Cathy Freeman, Herb Elliott, and Andrew Hoy. The most famous deceased athletes include Peter Norman, Bobby Pearce, and Ron Clarke. As of April 2022, 32 new athletes have been added to Pantheon including George Parker, Joyce King, and Dave Power.