Natalie Louise Cook (born 19 January 1975) is an Australian professional

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two to four players each on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side o ...

player and

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

gold medallist. She became the first Australian woman to compete at five Olympic Games.

Early life

Cook was born in

Townsville The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. She was the

dux ''Dux'' (, : ''ducēs'') is Latin for "leader" (from the noun ''dux, ducis'', "leader, general") and later for duke and its variant forms (doge, duce, etc.). During the Roman Republic and for the first centuries of the Roman Empire, ''dux'' coul ...

of her school, Corinda State High (located in the western suburbs of Brisbane). She enrolled in pre-medicine college courses, and also took up

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

, captaining the Australian Indoor Junior Team in 1992. In 1993 she began playing

. In 1994 she went professional and gave up her pursuit of a medical degree.

Career

Cook partnered with Kerri Pottharst to represent 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 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 did not play together again until 2000. They finished third in the World Tour Events, held in France and Portugal, and then participated in the

2000 Summer Olympics 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 ...

in Sydney. They dominated the competition, winning the gold medal. In the aftermath of their Olympic win, the pair were awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia. Cook and Pottharst were included in the

Fédération Internationale de Volleyball The International Volleyball Federation commonly known by the acronym FIVB (''Fédération Internationale de Volleyball''). Is the international sports governing body, governing body for all forms of volleyball. Its headquarters are located in ...

's Team of the Decade. After the Olympics, Pottharst retired, and Cook found a new partner in Nicole Sanderson. They won a bronze medal at the

2003 Beach Volleyball World Championships These page shows the results of the IV Beach Volleyball World Championships, held from October 7 to October 12, 2003, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was the fourth official edition of this event, after ten unofficial championships (1987–1996) al ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, and by the end of the 2003 world tour, were ranked fourth in the world. They were subsequently selected to represent Australia at the

2004 Athens Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

. After a promising start, they finished out of medal contention, losing to teams from

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and the United States. For the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

, Cook partnered with

Tamsin Barnett Tamsin Hinchley (née Barnett, born 10 March 1980) is a retired Australian indoor and beach volleyball player. Born in Adelaide, Hinchley was on the Australian indoor squad at the 2000 Summer Olympics. At the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics, Hin ...

, finishing fifth overall. On 1 August 2012, Cook's record breaking beach volleyball career came to an end with her elimination from her fifth games in London.

Recognition

In January 2001, Cook was awarded the

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 ...

. Cook was also awarded the

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 the 2001 Australia Day Honours in recognition of her service to sport as a gold medallist at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. In 2024, Cook was named as a Queensland Great.

Personal life

Cook currently resides in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

and is married to fellow beach volleyballer

Sarah Maxwell Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch, prophet, and major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a pious woma ...

. In addition to her sporting career, Cook tours on the public speaking circuit as a leading motivational speaker attracting big audiences and launched her own beach volleyball-related business, ''Sandstorm'' at the QEII Stadium in Brisbane.

Books

* ''Go Girl!'' (2001) * ''Health & Wellbeing Millionaire''

References

External links