THE DEFINITIVE LIST OF AUSTRALIA’S MOST INFLUENTIAL, SUCCESSFUL, NEWSWORTHY, TALENTED AND BEAUTIFUL WOMEN THIS YEAR STARRING PARALYMPIAN ELLIE COLE, MARGOT ROBBIE, SAM KERR, ARIARNE TITMUS, AMANDA KELLER, CELESTE BARBER, SOPHIE MONK, ASH BARTY, JESSICA MAUBOY AND MUCH MORE…
Women. Influential women, talented women, sports star women, impressive women, movie women, political women, amazing women, model women, funny women, commercial women, beautiful women, Olympic women, pop star women, artistic women, reality TV women, newsreader women, incredible women, wonderful women, soap star women, brilliant women, extraordinary women, TV presenter women, fitspo women, awesome women, cool women, newsworthy women, gutsy women, Paralympic women, HOT women.
Yes, welcome to the 2021 Ultra Tune MAXIM HOT 100 — our annual, eclectic and definitive list of Australian women who have impressed, made headlines or simply had a huge year. And despite being marred by lockdowns, restrictions, border closures and whatever else the COVID pandemic caused, 2021 saw an abundance of fine and fierce femmes who have wowed us with their aptitude, intellect, humour, attributes and overall mega talents.
None more so than this year’s winner, and Australia’s most decorated Paralympian, Ellie Cole (pictured, left, with some creep). In an Olympic and Paralympic year, sport became our outlet and conduit to a world of escapism. It’s only fitting that this truly extraordinary champion is our numero uno. So, sit back and enjoy this super-sizzling special edition of MAXIM.
Cheers,
Santi Pintado
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
1
Ellie Cole
Few could question the impact or influence of Ellie Cole on Australian sport. As a swimmer, Ellie has won 17 Paralympic medals in total over four Games, making her Australia’s most decorated female Paralympian ever. This haul includes six gold, five silver and six bronze. Her most recent campaign in Tokyo saw her nab silver in the 4 x 100 freestyle relay and bronze in the 4 x 100 medley relay. In addition to holding a raft of other national and international titles and medals, she’s also an Order of Australia medal holder. Nevertheless, accolades still don’t really do this Aussie sporting icon justice. Cole is transcending and redefining the role of the modern sportswoman, from keynote addresses in large corporate organisations to media appearances to ambassador partnerships with Toyota, Optus, Jockey and Woolworths just to name a few and now this – winner of the 2021 Ultra Tune MAXIM HOT 100 (check out her amazing interview and photo shoot on page 10) and the first athlete ever to take out the No.1 spot on this illustrious list. On a broader scale, her sporting achievements and advocacy work have helped place our Paralympians firmly in the national spotlight. This has particular resonance in 2021 when our Paralympians were finally given pay parity with Olympic athletes for their medal wins. Ellie Cole, we salute you!
PHOTO: NEIL DIXON
2
Ariarne Titmus
This 21-year-old Olympic swimming champion from Launceston, Tasmania, had the whole of Australia on their feet – and her coach Dean Boxall “humping” the grandstand railing – when she powered home in the 200m and 400m freestyle events to win two gold medals at the Tokyo Games. In the latter event, she defeated the favourite, USA champ Katie Ledecky, and set a new Olympic record in the process. Titmus also brought home a silver in the 800m freestyle and a bronze in the Freestyle relay. Nicknamed Arnie, the champ returned to Launceston to a literal parade and was presented the key to the city. Talk about a homecoming!
PHOTO: BRIDGESTONE
3
Margot Robbie
After a run of hit movies and two Oscar nominations, Margot has taken it easy this year, although she did find time to reprise her iconic role as Harley Quinn in DC’s The Suicide Squad. Despite being on a self-imposed social media break, the two-time Ultra Tune MAXIM HOT 100 winner still went viral when shots emerged of her epic Love Island-themed 31st birthday bash. Next up, Margot will appear in the new David O. Russell movie with Christian Bale. Go you good thing!
4
Emma McKeon
When it came to competition during the Olympics at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, the 2020 Games belonged to Emma McKeon, who brought home an unprecedented four gold medals in her swimming events. With that, plus her gold from Rio, Emma tied Ian Thorpe for the most gold medals won by an Australian Olympian ever. But it didn’t stop there – the Queen of the Pool also won three bronze in Japan, which made her the single most decorated athlete of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. All hail the Great Golden Girl!
5
Jessica Fox
The champion slalom canoeist sealed her status as the greatest individual paddler of all time after winning her third and fourth Olympic medals at the Tokyo Games in August. This included her first ever gold medal in the C1 event which saw Australia equal its gold medal record set in Athens back in 2004 and reminded the world that we are truly one of the greatest sporting nations. The Fox continued her incredible year by taking out the canoe slalom World Cup kayak final in France and also winning the overall World Cup crown. Making her inaugural appearance into the 2021 Ultra Tune MAXIM HOT 100, Jess is more than worthy of this top five entry on our list!
PHOTO: REDBULL CONTENT POOL
6
Ash Barty
Breaking the curse of the single slam this year with a phenomenal run at Wimbledon, Ash become the first Australian to win it since Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1980. It also helped Barty maintain her years-long rein at the top of the WTA singles rankings and, at the time of writing, Ash has now spent more weeks at No.1 than Naomi Osaka, Kim Clijsters, Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams combined. Barty had more reason to party in 2021 when she won her first Olympic medal – a bronze in Mixed Doubles with partner John Peers. Even as the accolades keep piling up, she is still our down-to-earth girl from Ippy and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
7
Samara Weaving
This year Sammy kicked some serious butt as Scarlett in Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins and also gave her best performance to date as a poor-little-rich-girl in the TV series Nine Perfect Strangers. For the latter role, she went ham on the self-tanner, wore prosthetic teeth and used wire to tighten the skin on her face. Keeping with the augmented theme, Samara is also rumoured to be playing former Playboy Bunny Holly Madison in a new miniseries about life as Hefner’s girlfriend at the Playboy mansion. Say no more and count us in! It’s only a matter of time before this bright star wins an Oscar. Watch this space.
PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK
8
Sam Kerr
As she continues to be one of Australia’s greatest sportswomen on-and-off the pitch, Sam has been killing it with her club side Chelsea in the English Women’s Super League, bringing her name and talent to new international audiences. Kerr also made an impressive effort in the bronze medal match at the Tokyo Olympics, scoring a goal that made her the Matildas all-time top goal scorer. It wasn’t backflips all-round though, with Australia going down to the Americans 4-3 and missing out on a medal. However, all was not lost as she recently confirmed she is dating U.S. football star Kristie Mewis. If that’s not amazing enough, Sam has also just launched a series of novels for young readers called Sam Kerr’s Kicking Goals. Go you good thing!
PHOTO: NIKE
9
Delta Goodrem
Australia’s most celebrated songstress and winner of the 2020 Ultra Tune MAXIM HOT 100, Delta is capping off another year of career firsts. Her most recent coup? Co-headlining the Global Citizen Live concert with a moving performance at an empty Sydney Opera House to raise money to tackle poverty and climate change. Live-streamed around the world, she shared the bill with the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Coldplay and Billie Eilish. No doubt there’ll be a national tour, more music and more of her brilliant Bunkerdown sessions via her Instagram in 2022.
PHOTO: CARLOTTA MOYE
10
Kaylee McKeown
You can thank this mega and multi-talented swimmer for three of the 17 Olympic gold medals Australia hauled back from Japan after she came up trumps in the 100m backstroke, 200m backstroke and the 4 x 100m medley. You can also thank her for one of our favourite viral moments of the Tokyo Games when, after winning gold and being asked how she felt by the poolside reporter, Kaylee proclaimed, “F–k yeah!” live on TV. Gold indeed! When she’s not breaking world records with times previously thought humanly impossible, and keeping Seven’s censors in work, the 20-year-old can be found chilling out at home on the Sunshine Coast.
PHOTO: SPEEDO
BY REILLY SULLIVAN & SANTI PINTADO
For the full article grab the November 2021 issue of MAXIM Australia from newsagents and convenience locations. Subscribe here.
