Australia's Past and Present Sporting Greats

Aussies are known as sports lovers. And when the hosting of Olympic games was first awarded to Australia in 1956, people just went crazy. Also, many nationals acquired visa for Australia to witness the world's premier competition. Because of people's support for sports, they again hosted the Olympics in 2000. Most people go to many game arenas to hoot for their favorite teams. And people doesn't just concentrate on single sport. In fact, each type of sports have their fair share of popularity. Some of the famous of Australian sports are football, baseball, cricket, golf, horse racing, rugby league, rugby union, soccer, swimming, tennis and basketball. And from this sports, many Australians excelled and gave Australia the honor and recognition in their own fields. They are now called the Greatest Australian Sports Legend.

• Sir Donald George Bradman is considered as the greatest cricket player of Australia. Bradman is a batsman and achieved an incredible batting average of 99.94 in Test matches for Australia. This number is hailed as the greatest achievement in any sports. His first Test match debut against England in 1928. In recognition of his contribution on sports, in 2001, Australia's PM John Howard called him “the greatest living Australia”. His image appeared on many postage stamps and coins. And on that time, he was the only living person to have a museum dedicated to his life.
• Cathy Freeman is an Olympian, a sprinter, who bagged home the gold medal in the 400m of the 2000 Sydney games. Before the Olympic event, she was already a two-time World Champion in the same category. She was an aborigine and was the first aboriginal to win an Olympic gold. She retired in 2003.
• Edward Trickett is a rower and the very first Australian to be recognized as the world champion in any sport. He won the World Sculling Championship in 1876 and held it for another four years. After he died, several streets at Surfers Paradise was named after him.
• Dawn Fraser is another Olympian who won a gold medal, this time, for swimming. She is one of the only two swimmers to win the same Olympic event thrice, the 100 meters freestyle. She participated and won on four Olympic games held at different cities. She was named Australian of the year in 1964. She was also named Female Athlete of the Century by the Sport Australian Hall of Fame.
• Evonne Goolagong Cawley is an Australian who earned international fame because of his excellence in tennis. She won 14 grand slam titles in 1970s and 1980s. In 1988, she made it to the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
• Lionel Rose is a boxing international superstar. He was the first aboriginal to win a world title in boxing history. He was the Australian of the year in 1968, first aboriginal to get that honor. A tribute for him was a documentary film in 2008, shown at the Melbourne International Film Festival.

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