Nova Peris with Sydney 2000 Olympic torch in front of Uluru

Nova Peris is an Australian athlete, artist and former politician. She is a member of the Muran clan (traditional owners of Kakadu) who started her international sporting career as a member of the Australian Women's Hockey Team, and later switched to running. At the 1996 Summer Olympics, Peris became the first Aboriginal Australian to win an Olympic medal.

She was the first torchbearer in Australia for the Sydney Olympics torch relay. Beginning at Uluru, ‘the spiritual heart of Australia’, the torch was lit by the Governor-General and then held by Aboriginal elders, before being passed to Peris. Peris ran the first stretch of the torch relay barefoot in recognition of the traditional owners of the land. Peris’s daughter, Jessica, ran with her.