Biography

Nova Peris-Kneebone is an aborigine and was born in Darwin on the 25^th of February 1971. She did not know yet that she was not going to grow up to be famous.

 She grew up in Darwin with her mother and father, and after a while she had an interest in hockey because it ran in the family. She practiced for a long time until she was great at doing it and got into the Olympics.

 Quite a while later Nova married a man called Sean, and he helped Nova in training for her hockey and athletics. After a while Nova stopped training hockey and athletics in 1993 for a while because she had found out that she was pregnant with her daughter Jessica, which is now eight.

 Nova had found out her big talent and she finally ended up going into the Australian Women’s hockey team and that was when she was put to the test. In 1994 Nova and her team had won the hockey world cup in Dublin, Ireland. In 1996 she had done it again and won another gold medal in hockey in Atlanta, USA. After all of that glory she did it again (can you believe it?) but this time it was not in hockey, she was the first aboriginal athlete to win a gold medal! That was in the Atlanta Olympic games in 1996.  In 1997 Nova was presented with Young Australian of the Year Award. In 1998 Nova won gold medals for the 200m and the 4x100m at the Commonwealth Games.  

Fact File

Name: Nova Peris- Kneebone

Date of Birth: 25 of February 1971

Place of Birth: Darwin, Northern Territory 

Height: 170 cm

Weight: 54 kg

Sports: Athletics and Hockey

Other Talents:  Nova is a well respected Artist. she designed two Olympic coins, one of which won second prize at the 1998 World Coin Fair. She also painted Dreamtime paintings and has released a set of three commemorative Olympic pins and also a watch.

Pets: 2 Dogs and a Rabbit

Family: Jessica Kneebone (Daughter) Sean Kneebone( X husband)

Personal Motto: "To see it with the mind and believe it with the heart you can achieve."

Before Nova went to the European Campaign she caught Glandular Fever and did not run very well. When she returned home she was able to recover. Nova was the first aboriginal athlete to win a gold medal in two different sports!

Nova is also an artist and has sold dreamtime paintings around the world. Most of her recent work has been Olympic paintings. She has designed two Olympic coins, which came second in the 1998 World Coin Fair. Nova has also done a set of three commemorative Olympic pins and a commemorative Olympic watch which was "Nova Swatch".

 In Nova’s free time she likes to study her Aboriginal Culture, painting, camping and fishing.

illustration by Fiona