Dr Lauren Burns won an Olympic gold medal in taekwondo when the sport made its debut at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. She has a Bachelor of Health Science (Naturopathy), is a mother of two gorgeous children and is the author Fighting Spirit and her self published cookbook Food from a Loving Home.

Lauren was awarded the Order of Australia in 2001 and has a string of international titles and achievements to her name.  She conducts regular motivational presentations, active workshops and health and wellness programs and individual performance coaching, throughout Australia and abroad. Lauren is currently working with the Gold Medal Ready program run through the Australian Institute of Sport, assisting athletes preparing for Tokyo and Paris. She also sits on the Scholarship Selection Committee for the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.

Lauren has always been passionate about food and health. She continues this passion with regular media commitments, articles, blogging and cooking classes. She has a PhD in Athlete
Lifestyle and Mindset, and works closely with the Australian Institute of Sport both with the Gold Medal Ready program and with their research institute.

Achievements

• 1993 – 2000 12 times National Champion and Australian Team Member
• 1999 – Leader Newspaper Sports Star of the year
• Third dan black belt
• Women’s Team Captain, Australian Taekwondo Team
• 1999, 2001 Blitz Female Full Contact Fighter of the Year
• 2000 Order Of Australia Medal recipient
• 2000 Taekwondo Australia Fighter of the Year
• 2001 Young Australian of the Year, Nillumbik Shire
• 2001 Sports Medal Recipient
• 2001 Best Selling Author, Fighting Spirit
• 2004 – 2007 Representative on the Athletes Commission, Taekwondo Australia
• 2004 Appointed on The Athletes Commission for the Australian Olympic Committee
• 2007 Olympic Education Ambassador
• 2009 Bachelor Health Science, Naturopathy
• 2009 Australian Natural Therapists Association Bursary Award
• 2011 Released and published cookbook, Food from a Loving Home
• 2015 Inducted into the Official Taekwondo Hall of Fame, Croatia
• 2015 Scholarship recipient from the JACKA Foundation for PhD research
• 2017 L’Oréal-UNESCO recipient: For Women in Science mentoring program
• 2017 Inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame, Melbourne
• 2019 RMIT Higher Degree Research – Publication Prize
• 2019 RMIT Vice Chancellor’s Award, Research Impact

Community Involvement & Associations

2001 – 2002

World Vision, Ambassador for Destroy a minefield, rebuild lives campaign (Cambodia)

2001 – 2009

Red Dust Role Models, conducting healthy lifestyle and taekwondo clinics in Indian, Fijian and remote Aboriginal communities.

2003 – 2015

Appin Hall Children’s Foundation, regular clinics and workshops (taekwondo and nutrition) for terminally ill or disadvantaged children and families.

2004 – 2006

Member of Athletes Commission of both Australian Olympic Committee and Taekwondo Australia

2010 – 2012

Ambassador for the ‘Organic Schools Garden Program’

2014 – 2015

Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program – Teaching teachers involved in the program new recipes

2014 – current

Nino Early Learning – Nutritional Ambassador; creating seasonal, wholefood, delicious menu’s for Nino’s Centres

“Lauren presented for us at our International Women’s Day event and had everyone enthralled with her story, we even got to learn some Taekwondo moves!

I couldn’t recommend her more highly, she was both engaging and entertaining…a great story of determination.

Amelia Collins - Bendigo Bank Clifton Hill/North Fitrzoy

“10 out 10….Lauren was an absolute pleasure to work with – she took the time to understand our event, communicate with our team beforehand and on the night was able to read the vibe in the room exceptionally well. Throughout the evening Lauren was able to seamlessly navigate any changes to schedule or tweak the script as she went. Through personal anecdotes Lauren engaged with our guests and was able to inject her own personality and warmth into the evening. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Lauren for your next event.”

Leigh Meyrick, Director Media & Communications, Australian Sports Commission