15.10.2007

Awards for Indigenous trio

The continued development of Robbie Crowther, Otis Gowa and Joshua Ahwong has been formally acknowledged at the Queensland Indigenous Sports Awards in Brisbane.

Crowther, the 2006 World Junior long jump champion, was presented with a regional award for Central Queensland after narrowly missing out on the evening’s main presentation - the Eddie Gilbert Medal.

Awarded to Queensland’s best Indigenous sportsperson, the honours went to rugby league’s Johnathan Thurston of the North Queensland Cowboys - who took out that competition’s best-and-fairest award, the Dally M, last month.

The late Eddie Gilbert, considered one of Australia’s greatest Indigenous sportspeople, represented Queensland in shield cricket and attracted most attention when he dismissed the legendary Donald Bradman for a duck.

The evening also saw the unveiling of a statue of Gilbert.

Gowa, a member of Athletics Australia’s Jump Start to London 2012 squad, has surged as a sprinter in 2007 - impressing in international competitions including the IAAF Oceania Championships, Oceania Grand Prix and Melanesian Championships, New Zealand Championships and, most recently, the Singapore Open Championships.

Re-locating from Cairns to Brisbane has paid dividends for Gowa, who has committed to his talent and been invited to train with the Australian Institute of Sport’s relay squads.

And people are taking notice of the big man, who was a glowing recipient of the Catherine Freeman Encouragement Award.

Joshua Ahwong, another member of Jump Start, was presented with the Department of Communities Youth Award, sponsored by the Minister for Communities, Disability Services, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships.

Ahwong, completing his secondary studies, has emerged after winning the under-20 400m and finishing second in the under-20 800m at the Arafura Games in Darwin in May.

Athletics Australia congratulates the trio on their efforts.