''Australia's Greatest Athlete'' is an Australian television program that debuted in 2009. The first season was broadcast on the

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...

and was hosted by

Andrew Voss Andrew Voss (born 7 September 1966) is an Australian rugby league commentator and radio and television personality who works for Fox League. Voss previously worked for the SKY Network Television as a commentator, and at the Nine Network, inclu ...

and

Michael Slater Michael Jonathon Slater (born 21 February 1970) is an Australian former professional cricketer and former television presenter. He played in 74 Test matches and 42 One Day Internationals for the Australia national cricket team. He was a part ...

, with

Ricky Ponting Ricky Thomas Ponting (born 19 December 1974) is an Australian cricket coach, commentator, and former player. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time and is the most successful captain in international cricket history, ...

as a sideline commentator. The second season moved to Channel Seven and was hosted by

Mark Beretta Major Mark Beretta (born 16 June 1966) is an Australian journalist, best known as a sports reporter on Seven Network program ''Sunrise'', he has also been an officer in the Australian Army Reserve in public relations since 2019. In July 2008 ...

and Tom Williams, with Ponting returning as a sideline commentator. Season three was hosted by

and

Wendell Sailor Wendell Jermaine Sailor (born 16 July 1974) is an Australian former professional rugby footballer who represented his country in both rugby league and rugby union – a dual code international. In rugby league Sailor was a member of the succes ...

, while

Billy Slater William Slater (born 18 June 1983) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. Slater is the current coach of the Queensland Maroons, whom he coached to victories in the 2022 and 2023 State o ...

and Mark Webber replaced Ricky Ponting as the sideline commentators. These three series were sponsored by

Rexona Rexona is an Australian deodorant and antiperspirant brand owned by the British- Dutch company Unilever. While marketed under the Rexona name in most countries, it is known as Rexena (; ) in Japan and South Korea, Sure in the United Kingd ...

, which gave it naming rights and the series was referred to on-air as ''Rexona Australia's Greatest Athlete''. The show pits eight of Australia's most talented athletes against each other in various sporting challenges and events, earning points for their rankings. The overall winner receives money which will then be donated to a charity of their choice.

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm is a rugby league football club based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia that participates in the National Rugby League (NRL). The club plays its home games at AAMI Park, and wears a purple and navy blu ...

and

Australian Kangaroos The Australian national rugby league team, the Kangaroos, have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competitions since the establishment of the game in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian Rugby League Comm ...

fullback

was the overall champion of the first season, and returned to defend the title for the second season with a 5-point win over runner-up Shannon Eckstein. The third series was won by

Queensland Reds The Queensland Reds is the rugby union team based in Brisbane for the Australian state of Queensland that competes in the Southern Hemisphere's Super Rugby competition. Prior to 1996, they were a representative team selected from the rugby union ...

and Australian Wallabies

five-eighth Five-eighth or stand-off is one of the positions in a rugby league football team. Wearing jersey number 6, this player is one of the two half backs in a team, partnering the . Sometimes known as the pivot or second receiver, in a traditional a ...

Quade Cooper Quade Santini Cooper (born 5 April 1988) is a professional rugby union player and occasional boxing, boxer. Although born in New Zealand, he has represented Australia national rugby union team, Australia in rugby at international level. He curre ...

with a 95-point win over runner-up

Shannon Eckstein Shannon Eckstein (born 1983) is an Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended ...

. Slater was unable to compete for a threepeat on account of an injury. Season one was in syndication on

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...

1 on Tuesdays at 6:30 pm, while season two received replays on

7mate 7mate is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Seven Network on 25 September 2010. The channel contains sport and regular programs aimed primarily to a male audience, with programming drawn from a c ...

. A fourth season was confirmed through the show's official website and

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

page, which also announced a new naming sponsor to replace Rexona as well as female and amateur athletes. It was not listed which channel would broadcast the series. Despite the announcement, no fourth season ever eventuated and the show's Facebook page was deleted, effectively cancelling the series.

Season 1 (2009)

Season 2 (2010)

Season 3 (2011)

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official WebsiteGreatest Athlete Facebook
2009 Australian television series debuts 2011 Australian television series endings Nine Network original programming Seven Network original programming Australian sports television series 2000s Australian reality television series 2010s Australian reality television series