Matt Shirvington (born 25 October 1978) is an Australian former

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

and

television presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces or hosts television show, television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. It is common for people ...

who held the Australian 100m national sprint title from 1998 to 2002. Shirvington is the third fastest Australian sprinter of all time. He qualified for the 100m semi-finals in Sydney 2000, finishing 5th. Shirvington is currently co-host of the

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

's breakfast television program ''

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning, at the start of the Sun path. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon. Terminology Although the S ...

'' alongside

Natalie Barr Natalie Ann Barr (born 19 March 1968) is an Australian television presenter, journalist, and news presenter. Barr is currently co-host of the Seven Network's breakfast television program ''Sunrise'' alongside Matt Shirvington. She was previous ...

Athletics

Shirvington generally competed in the

100m The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

200m The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

and 4 x 100m relay events, finding the most success in the 100m sprint. He competed in the

2000 Olympic Games The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

, the

Athletics World Championships Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

from 1999 to 2007 and the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

and

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

. From 1998 Shirvington claimed five consecutive Australian national titles for the 100m sprint event. At the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, he broke the Australian national

record, finishing fourth in the final with a time of 10.03 seconds. Shirvington held the record until Patrick Johnson recorded 9.93 seconds in 2003. He also featured in two World Indoor Championships 60m finals.

Television

Seven Network

In 2004, Shirvington was a contestant in the first series of ''Dancing with the Stars'' and in 2005 was a presenter and reporter on ''Beyond Tomorrow''. In July 2020, Shirvington joined the

as weekend sport presenter on '' Seven News Sydney'', replacing Jim Wilson. He also was a fill-in host and sports presenter on ''

'', ''

Weekend Sunrise ''Weekend Sunrise'' is an Australian breakfast television program, broadcast on the Seven Network and currently hosted by Monique Wright and David Woiwod. History In 2005 the Seven Network replaced its struggling Sunday morning program ''Su ...

'' and '' The Morning Show''. On 1 February 2021, Shirvington started hosting the competition series '' Holey Moley,'' and on 7 March 2021 he started hosting the competition series '' Ultimate Tag''. In January 2022,

announced that Shirvington will join as a host on ''

Sydney Weekender ''Sydney Weekender'' is an Australian travel show featuring destinations throughout the state of New South Wales. The program debuted in 1994 on Saturdays at 5:30pm, later moving to Sundays at the same time before the local nightly news bulleti ...

'', replacing the long running host Mike Whitney. In July 2022, Shirvington was part of the commentary team for the network's coverage of the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England betw ...

in Birmingham. In June 2023, the

announced that Shirvington will permanently replace

David Koch David Hamilton Koch ( ; May 3, 1940 – August 23, 2019) was an American businessman, political activist, philanthropist, and chemical engineer. In 1970, he joined the family business: Koch Industries, the second largest privately held co ...

as the co-host of ''Sunrise'', having filled in for him regularly on Fridays in recent months. He commenced on Monday 12 June.

Sky News Australia and Foxtel

In June 2010, Shirvington joined ''

Sky News Australia Sky News Australia is an Australian news channel owned by News Corp Australia. Originally launched on 19 February 1996, it broadcasts rolling news coverage throughout the day, while its prime time lineup is dedicated to opinion-based programs fe ...

'' as a sports presenter. In 2013, Matt was announced as the new host of the

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 ...

NRL coverage and joined ''The Back Page'' as a co-host. In 2014, he co-hosted the

ASTRA Awards The ASTRA Awards were the annual awards for the Australian subscription television industry. According to the Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association (ASTRA), the awards "recognise the wealth of talent that drives the Austr ...

with

Shaynna Blaze Shaynna Blaze (born 2 April 1963) is an Australian interior designer, television personality, writer and former singer. She is best known for her work as a co-host on ''Selling Houses Australia'' (2008–2020) and a judge on '' The Block'' (201 ...

. Shirvington has previously been the host of Friday Night Football on

Fox League Fox League is an Australian subscription television channel dedicated to screening rugby league (both domestic and international) matches and related programming. It is owned by Fox Sports Pty Limited and is available throughout Australia on Fox ...

Other

In 2009, Matt had a cameo and one line in the third episode of :''30 Seconds''''.'' Shirvington appeared in a guest role on the Australian version of ''

The Biggest Loser ''The Biggest Loser'' is a reality television format which started with the American TV show ''The Biggest Loser (American TV series), The Biggest Loser'' in 2004. The show centers on overweight and Obesity, obese contestants attempting to lose ...

'' in 2010. In 2024, he made a cameo in Home And Away

Links with NRL clubs

St George Illawarra Dragons

In the 2012

NRL The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

pre-season, Shirvington was appointed a sprint training coach for the

St George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons are an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since 1999 after a j ...

despite being a fan of the

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Manly club debuted in the 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League sea ...

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles

In the 2016 NRL pre-season, Shirvington signed up as a Sea Eagles member and recorded a video message encouraging other Manly supporters to either renew their membership or to sign up. Shirvington also regularly promotes the Sea Eagles via social media.

Personal life

Raised in Davidson, a suburb of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Shirvington has also lived in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He attended St Martin de Porres Catholic Primary School in Davidson. He has also been a National Ambassador for

CanTeen Canteen most often refers to: * Canteen (bottle), a water container * Cafeteria, a type of food service location within an institution in which there is little or no waiting staff table service * A complete set of cutlery comprising knives, forks, ...

, an Australian support organisation for young children living with

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

. Shirvington is married to author Jessica Shirvington. They have two daughters, and a son. They live in , New South Wales.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shirvington, Matt 1978 births Australian male sprinters Australian television newsreaders and news presenters Australian game show hosts Olympic athletes for Australia Sportsmen from New South Wales Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1998 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships medalists Living people Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Australia Goodwill Games medalists in athletics Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games Medallists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Australian Athletics Championships winners Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in athletics