Kerri Ann Pottharst

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(born 25 June 1965) is an Australian former professional beach volleyball player and

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gold medallist. Pottharst was born in

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, and currently resides in Sydney. In addition to her previous volleyball commitments, Pottharst is an accomplished speaker, MC and presenter. She runs corporate team-building programs, and commentates Indoor and Beach Volleyball. She also founded
The Athlete Story
- a speaker training business.

Sporting career

Pottharst began playing indoor volleyball in 1982 and by 1990 was recognised as one of the best volleyball players in Australia. A serious knee injury in 1992 forced her off the hard court and she began playing beach volleyball. She partnered with

Natalie Cook Natalie Louise Cook (born 19 January 1975) is an Australian professional beach volleyball player and Olympic gold medallist. She became the first Australian woman to compete at five Olympic Games. Early life Cook was born in Townsville, Qu ...

, and together they represented Australia at the

Atlanta Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

in 1996, winning a bronze medal—the very first time that beach volleyball had been an Olympic sport. In the same year, the pair won a silver medal at the world championships and came first in the World Tour Event in Japan. Cook and Pottharst split for a few years afterwards, but they reunited in time for the

Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

. Before the games, they finished third in the World Tour Events in France and Portugal. At the Games themselves, the pair dominated the competition, taking out the gold medal. In the aftermath of their Olympic win, the pair were awarded the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Go ...

, Australia's highest honor. Cook and Pottharst were included in the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball's Team of the Decade. After the 2000 Olympics, Pottharst retired, but she decided to come out of retirement and return to competition until she suffered a career-ending knee injury. According to worldwide beach volleyball statistics, Pottharst had never been outside of the top 10 and rarely outside of the top six in International Beach Volleyball events since 1994 until her final retirement in 2003. Pottharst appeared on the Nine Network's TV reality show '' Celebrity Circus'' in 2005, in which she trained with stars of Australia's

Silvers Circus Silver's Circus, the original, was an (Australian) circus started by Mervyn King and entrepreneur David Hardie Snr. and his two sons Les and David Jnr. History Original Silvers The original Silver's Circus was founded by Mervyn King and David H ...

References

External links

* * * * * 1965 births Living people Australian women's beach volleyball players Olympic beach volleyball players of Australia Olympic gold medalists for Australia Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Olympic medalists in beach volleyball Beach volleyball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Beach volleyball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Beach volleyball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Australian people of German descent Sportspeople from Adelaide Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees 20th-century Australian women {{Australia-Olympic-medalist-stub