Ms Natalie Cook OAM

Think beach volleyball in Australia and you think of one person … Natalie Cook OAM. She has single-handedly put her sport on the map through 20 years of elite competition, and was rightfully inducted into the Australian Sports Hall of Fame in October.

But to classify her as just a beach volleyballer is to do her a gross injustice. She is a legitimate international sporting superstar.

She was the first Australian female to compete in five consecutive Olympic Games, and after winning a bronze medal in Atlanta in 1996, when beach volleyball was included on the Olympic schedule for the first time, she enjoyed the proudest moment of a stellar career when he won gold in Sydney in 2000.

She also represented her country in the Olympics in Athens, Beijing and London, won bronze and silver medals at world championship level, and is an 11-time Australian champion. A member of the AOC Athletes Commission from 2008-12 and inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2013.

She continues to further her cause as President of the Queensland Olympic Council. An extraordinary performer on and off the sand who sits most comfortably in the Queensland Sport Hall of Fame, Natalie Cook OAM.