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“Goosebumps”: Watch Patty Mills’ Emotional Statement About Ash Barty’s Win

Watch three-time Olympian Patty Mills' emotional statement about the historical significance of Ash Barty's Wimbledon Win for Australia and First Nations People.

by Edwina Storie  12 July 2021

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Just days after being named Australia’s first Indigenous flag bearer for the Olympic team, three-time Olympian Patty Mills choked up when asked about the significance of Ash Barty’s historical Wimbledon win over the weekend.

“This is special. This is goosebumps type stuff,” Mills said in a press conference following his game.

Barty won her first Venus Rosewater Dish on the 50th anniversary of Evonne Goolagong Cawley’s Wimbledon win. She broke the long drought since Australia’s last win in the women’s Wimbledon, which was again Evonne Goolagong Cawley back in 1980.

“I got asked post game tonight about Ash Barty’s Wimbledon victory and immediately got the biggest rock in my throat and what felt like a million goosebumps.”

“41 years since the last Australian woman to win Wimbledon, and that was Evonne Goolagong Cawley. 50 years since her first Wimbledon title. She does it in a dress that’s inspired by her idol in Evonne. During NAIDOC week,” said Mills.

“Amazing inspiration for everyone in Australia, especially Indigenous Australians,” Mills said.

It was an incredible week for the representation and sports excellence of Australia’s First Nations people, especially as NAIDOC Week came to a close, a time dedicated to celebrating the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Adele Pavlidis and Marcus Woolombi Waters highlight in The Conversation that as “Indigenous people continue to be marginalised in so many areas of Australian life, Barty’s success is all the more a powerful testament to her strength and talent.”