Groundbreaking Aboriginal Australian athlete and politician known for being both the first indigenous Australian athlete to win an Olympic gold medal and first indigenous woman to be elected to a federal parliamentary seat.
She started her athletic career as a member of the Australian women's field hockey team, with whom she won gold at the 1996 Olympics. She then switched to track and competed at the 2000 Olympics as a runner.
With the endorsement of the Australian Labor Party, she was elected senator of the Northern Territory in 2013.
She has three children, one with ex-husband Sean Kneebone and two with ex-husband Daniel Batman. She married Scott Appleton in 2012.
She and Rechelle Hawkes were teammates on the 1996 gold medal-winning field hockey team.