Natalie Cook

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Natalie Cook (l.) With Kerri Pottharst at the 2000 Olympic Games.

Natalie Louise Cook (born January 19, 1975 in Townsville , Queensland , Australia ) is a professional beach volleyball player. She became Olympic champion in 2000 with partner Kerri Pottharst and is a member of the Order of Australia .

Career

Cook began her beach volleyball career in 1993. Together with partner Kerri Pottharst, she developed into one of the best players in the FIVB world league . They won bronze at the Olympic premiere of beach volleyball in Atlanta in 1996 . In the same year they won the silver medal at the world championships. In the following years Cook / Pottharst established themselves in the expanded world elite. The big coup came in 2000: at the Olympic Games in Sydney they won the gold medal in front of a home crowd. This was also her first FIVB tournament victory at all.

After the 2002 season, Pottharst declared her career over (but later made a comeback with Summer Lochowicz ), and Cook went on to play with compatriot Nicole Sanderson . They continued to play in the extended world elite and won an FIVB tournament in 2001. In 2003 Cook and Sanderson took bronze at the World Cup . In the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens to Cook injured his shoulder, and the two lost unhappy the match for third place. She and Sanderson played together until 2006 when Cook selected Tamsin Barnett as a partner in 2007 . In 2007 they won an FIVB tournament. In the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing Cook was fifth, and in the 2012 Olympic Games in London Cook / Barnett ended after three defeats in the first round at No. 19th

successes

  • Gold medal Olympic Games 2000
  • Silver medal World Championships 1996
  • Bronze medal Olympic Games 1996
  • Bronze medal World Championships 2003
  • Member of the Order of Australia

Private life

Cook has been married to former Canadian beach volleyball player Sarah Maxwell since November 2008 , with whom she had previously been in a relationship for six years. Cook lives in Brisbane and runs Sandstorm, a company that promotes beach volleyball in Australia. With over 600,000 US dollars in prize money, she is one of the most successful players financially.

Works

Natalie Cook, Robert Drane: Go Girl: An Inspiring Journey from Bronze to Gold . 2nd revised edition. Hardie Grant Books, Prahran 2001, ISBN 978-1740640237 .

Web links

Commons : Natalie Cook  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gold medalist Natalie Cook marries Sarah Marshall . Note: the article title incorrectly names Cook's wife "Sarah Marshall", the article itself uses the correct "Sarah Maxwell"
  2. ↑ Volleyball newlyweds take island honeymoon
personal data
SURNAME Cook, Natalie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cook, Natalie Louise
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian volleyball player
DATE OF BIRTH 19th January 1975
PLACE OF BIRTH Townsville , Queensland , Australia