Australian athletics stars honoured at Athletics Australia Awards Dinner

Australian track and field stars both past and present were honoured last night at the Athletics Australia Awards Gala dinner, with six prestigious awards presented and four athletes inducted into the Athletics Australia Hall of Fame.  

Hosted by Olympians Matt Shirvington and Tamsyn Lewis, the Athletics Australia Awards dinner celebrates Australia’s track and field greats, including athletes, coaches, volunteers and administrators.

The 2021 Athletics Australia Awards saw the renaming of the Athlete of the Year Awards, to honour the pioneers of Australian track and field.

Jessica Hull received the Marjorie Jackson Award for Female Able-bodied Athlete of the Year, after becoming the first Australian to hold the 1500m, 3000m and 5000m records simultaneously, while Stewart McSweyn won the John Landy Award for Male Able-bodied Athlete of the Year for achieving a similar feat – breaking the 1500m, 5000m and 10,000m records in 2020.

Paralympic champion Vanessa Low won the Amy Winters Award for Female Para-athlete of the Year, after breaking the long jump T61 record in Canberra this year. World champion Corey Anderson won the Russell Short Male Para-athlete of the Year after breaking his own world record in the javelin F38, throwing 58.18, in Brisbane in 2020.

The Betty Cuthbert Award, for the best single performance at the 2021 Australian Track and Field Championships went to Nicola McDermott for becoming the first Australian female to clear two metres in the high jump, while the Bruce McAvaney Award for the Performance of the Year went to Queensland decathlete Ashley Moloney, who at just 21-years-old broke the Oceania record for the decathlon at the Queensland Combined Event Championships in December.

Athletes were honoured to have Bruce McAvaney, Amy Winters and Sally Pearson on hand to present the awards.

The President’s Award which honours coaches, volunteers and administrators this year went to two recipients; Eric Brown and Fiona Brown. Decathlon coach Eric Brown coached Moloney and Cedric Dubler to their Olympic selections, and over a number of years has coached four of the top 13 Australian decathletes in history, including three of the top seven. Administrator Fiona Brown who works for both Athletics Northern Territory and Athletics West has been instrumental in assiting with the newly formed Northern Australian Athletics, which includes the Australian Little Athletics Championships competition in the Northern Territory and Northern WA.

A new award added to the repertoire was the Coles Athletics Community Hero Award, which provides a platform to celebrate those in athletics community who work tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure athletics in Australia is the success that it is.

The winner of the award was 80-year-old Peter Burke from Victoria who has been coaching athletes from the grassroots level through to the elite for 60 years. In his time coaching, he has been a life member of Western Athletics, lobbied for merger of State’s men’s and women’s governing bodies, and has been a club coach and selector for more than 50 years, all without financial reward.

Also honoured during the night were the four newest inductees to the Athletics Australia Hall of Fame; trailblazers for Australian race walking Olympians Simon Baker OAM and Nathan Deakes, as well as three-time Olympic high jumper Tim Forsyth and Olympic sprinter David Lean.

In congratulating the inductees and award recipients, Athletics Australia Chief Executive Darren Gocher said the awards were not only a celebration of success on the track, but a celebration of the growth and strength of athletics in Australia.

“The performances we’ve witnessed from our athletes this year and last show that we are in a new era of athletics and the future is bright,” Gocher said.

“Everyone honoured tonight – our athletes, coaches and administrators have shown dedication and commitment to their craft and I cannot think of anyone more deserving than those honoured here tonight.

“Despite the adversity faced by our athletes and coaches over the last year, their strength and determination has seen our sport reach new heights in this country and it’s important that we celebrate their incredible achievements.

“Congratulations to every individual recognised tonight, I look forward to seeing our sport continue to rise.”

Posted: 19/3/2021