Rechelle Hawkes

Rechelle Margaret Hawkes AM, (born 30 May 1967 in Albany, Western Australia) was the captain of the Australian Womens Hockey Team, best known as the Hockeyroos, for eight years and became the second Australian woman after swimmer Dawn Fraser to win three Olympic gold medals at three separate Olympic Games: Seoul 1988, Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000.

Hawkes also competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, where Australia finished fifth. She made her debut in 1985, and reached a milestone in 1999, when the midfield player celebrated 250 games for the national team. She read the Athlete’s Olympic Oath at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

She received a Medal of the Order of Australia in 1989, an Australian Sports Medal in 2000, and a Centenary Medal in 2001. In 2001, she was inducted into the Australian Institute of Sport ‘Best of the Best’. She was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2002.

In the 2018 Australia Day Honours Hawkes was made a Member of the Order of Australia “For significant service to hockey, particularly as national captain of multiple tournament-winning teams, and as a role model and commentator.”