Michelle Susan Martin (born 29 April 1967) is an Australian former professional squash player who was one of the game's leading players in the 1990s. She was ranked number one in the world from 1993 to 1996 and again in 1998 and 1999, and won three World Open titles and six British Open titles.

Early life

Martin was born on 29 April 1967 in Sydney, as the fourth of six children. Her older brothers Brett and Rodney also went on to be top professional players. Her parents, who had built the

Engadine Engadine may refer to: Places * Engadin(e), a valley region in Switzerland * Engadine, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia *Engadine, Michigan Engadine ( ) is an unincorporated community in Mackinac County in the U.S. state of Michigan. ...

Squash Centre below their family home, introduced her to the game when she was three years old. She would often play squash with her family after school, and at the age of eight, she came second in the state under-13s championship. She moved with her family to Brisbane in 1980, and attended Everton Park State High School.

Career

She joined the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

's squash unit shortly after its establishment in 1985, and was part of the program for the rest of the 1980s; her coaches there included squash champions Geoff Hunt and

Heather McKay Heather Pamela McKay (née Blundell) (born 31 July 1941) is an Australian retired squash player, who is considered by many to be the greatest female player in the history of the game. She dominated the women's squash game in the 1960s and 1970 ...

. After working in a bank, she began her professional squash career in 1987, competing in her first of six

World Team Squash Championships The World Squash Team Championships are an international squash competition organised by the World Squash Federation and played between teams representing different nations. Countries enter teams of three or four players to represent them in th ...

in that year; she went on to participate in all of them during her career except the 1989 championship. In early 1990, Martin was considering giving up the sport due to lack of progress (her world ranking had been steady at No. 6 for some years), until her uncle Lionel Robberds began coaching her, providing her with a rigorous training program of running, gym work and physical drills. Her confidence in her game and world ranking began to increase. In late 1990, she met Phil Harte, who was to be her manager from then until 1992. Harte suggested that, rather than wearing the traditional shirt and skirt during squash games, she should wear a two-piece

lycra Spandex, Lycra, or elastane is a synthetic fiber known for its exceptional elasticity (physics), elasticity. It is a polyether-polyurea copolymer that was invented in 1958 by chemist Joseph Shivers at DuPont. Name The name ''spandex'', which ...

suit because it was "something sexy" that would "shake up the squash world" and gain publicity for her in the process. She agreed to do so, which caused much controversy. Fellow squash player Danielle Drady, who was married to Martin's brother Rodney, later left him for Harte, who became her manager and similarly had her dress in glad wrap for publicity. Rodney became Martin's coach in 1998. She spent 44 months as the best women's squash player in the world from March 1993 to October 1996 before Cassie Jackman of England broke her dominance; she was also ranked number one in the world in 1998 and 1999. She won three consecutive World Open championships from 1993 to 1995, and was a finalist in all the World Opens from 1992 to 1999 except 1996; she also won six consecutive British Opens from 1993 to 1998. She represented her country at the 1996 and 1999 Squash World Cups, and won gold medals in the sport at the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games in the women's singles and mixed doubles. She also won the

Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...

in 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, and 1999. At the end of 1999 she announced her retirement, saying she had achieved all her goals in the sport. She worked as a manager and coach of the Australian women's junior and senior teams from 2003 to 2016.

World Open

Finals: 7 (3 titles, 4 runners-up)

World Team Championships

Finals: 6 (4 title, 2 runner-up)

Personal life

Martin was married to Stephen Lacy, who was also her manager when she played professional squash, and the couple has two sons.

Recognition

In 1994, Martin was named New South Wales Sportswoman of the Year. She was inducted into the Australian Squash Hall of Fame in 1995 and was upgraded to Legend status in 2011; she was also inducted into the New South Wales Sports Hall of Champions in 1998, the Women's Squash Hall of Fame in 2000, and the Queensland Sports Hall of Fame in 2009. She received an

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, off ...

in 2000 and a

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian 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 then ...

in 2013. She was inducted into the World Squash Hall of Fame, the

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Don Bradman, Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and ...

, and the

"Best of the Best" in 2001.

References

External links

*
Page at Squashpics.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Michelle 1967 births Living people Australian female squash players Australian Institute of Sport squash players Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games gold medallists in squash Squash players at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Sportswomen from New South Wales Sportswomen from Queensland Squash players from Brisbane Squash players from Sydney Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees 20th-century Australian sportswomen