Michelle Steele

Michelle Steele is an Australian former skeleton racer who became the first Australian woman to compete in the sport at the Olympics, transitioning from a background in surf lifesaving and gymnastics.

Just 13 weeks after first setting foot on ice, Michelle Steele finished sixth on the World Cup skeleton circuit in Calgary in November 2005, a debut that signalled one of the most unconventional careers in Australian winter sport. Recruited through an Australian Institute of Sport programme targeting explosive beach and track athletes for winter sliding sports, she made a stunning World Cup debut in Calgary in November 2005, finishing sixth after just 13 weeks of training on ice. Steele made history at the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics, becoming the first Australian woman to compete in skeleton, finishing 13th. The following year, she became the first Australian, male or female, to win a World Cup skeleton medal, taking silver in Nagano, and finished sixth at the 2007 World Championships in St. Moritz, her best result at that level. Steele continued competing on the World Cup circuit for a decade, recording her best World Cup finish, third place, at Calgary in 2013, before qualifying for a second Olympic Games at Sochi in 2014. She retired from the sport after the 2014 Games, closing out a ten-year career that took her across Europe, North America, and Asia, and later settled in Brisbane, Australia.

Explosive starter drawing on a background in surf lifesaving sprints and gymnastics

A pioneering figure for Australian skeleton racing, opening the door for the sport's later development in the country

• First Australian woman to compete in skeleton at the Olympics (2006)
• First Australian to win a World Cup skeleton medal (silver, 2007 Nagano)
• 2x Olympian (2006, 2014)
• World Championship 6th place finish (2007)