Jess Fox Claims NSW Athlete of the Year
The Olympic superstar was honoured, while three more female past stars of sport were inducted into the Hall of Champions
Last night, the Annual NSW Sports Awards, incorporating the Hall of Champions and Champions of Sport, took place in Sydney.
Having attended this event for the past couple of years, HER WAY finds this to be a unique awards night, with athletes, legends, coaches and administrators from a wide range of sports coming together to celebrate, learn from and support one another. There’s not too many events where sports such as rugby league, surf skiing, blind cricket, shooting and netball are all under the one roof.
It’s been an enormous year for female athletes, and that was reflected in the list of nominees for the awards. Four of the five nominees for Athlete of the Year were female - five time winner Jessica Fox, Olympic gold medallist Saya Sakakibara, Paris silver medallist Jessica Hull, and cricket superstar Ash Gardner, while dual Paris Paralympic gold medalist Lauren Parker was a favourite for Athlete of the Year with a Disability. Ultimately, female athletes dominated the winning of the major awards, but more on that shortly.
First up, five new nominees were inducted into the NSW Hall of Champions, three women and two men. Of the women, there was Australian Opals basketball legend Suzy Batkovic, who now has the WNBL’s Best and Fairest Award named in her honour. Then there was cricket legend Alex Blackwell, who captained Australia to their first ever T20 World Cup title in 2010.
But the woman who completely owned the stage, and probably won the night overall, was 92 year old Pattie Dench. The 1984 Los Angeles Olympic medallist in shooting, Australia’s first ever in the sport, took the room on a journey of laughter and tears as she shared her journey having only taken up the sport in her 40s. Dench’s family members were sitting in front of HER WAY, and the number of loved ones with their phones in the air documenting the special moment was a reflection of how loved and respected the family’s matriarch is.
Chatting to Alex Blackwell about the honour before the ceremony, she reflected about what the night represented for her:
“The people I’m being inducted alongside, people like Suzy Batkovic, who I watched on TV playing basketball for Australia, who was an inspiration for me as well. It’s a nice moment to stop and think about my long career and the many amazing moments and the wonderful friendships I’ve made along the way.”
The Coach of the Year was a very strong field, with Penrith’s four time premiership- winning NRL mentor nominated alongside Paris silver medallist Australian Stingers Water Polo coach Bec Rippon, but it was always going to be hard to go past a Coach who was responsible for three Olympic gold medals in Paris, and that was the case with Canoe Slalom’s Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi. The mother of Olympic champs Jess and Noemie was unable to be in the room, sending a video message from overseas where she is currently a guest speaker sharing her coaching keys to success.
The dominance of female athletes over the past 12 months was reflected in the winners of the awards. In a very strong field of nominees for Team of the Year with a Disability, the NSW Blind Cricket Team won the award, with a couple of the female squad members being part of the group to accept the trophy onstage, including teen Ivy Walker. Ivy is a remarkable young athlete on the rise, participating in a range of sports, from cricket to rock climbing and skiing.
All four Athlete of the Year Awards on the night were won by females.
Australia’s first silver medallist in Boccia, Jamieson Leeson took home the Young Athlete of the Year with a Disability, in a field of entirely female athletes which was rounded out by Paris Paralympic medallists Mali Lovell and Chloe Osborn, as well as Ivy Walker.
Young Athlete of the Year was won by year 12 student Olivia Wunsch, who won gold in Paris as a heat swimmer in the incredible 4 x 100m relay swimming team. The nominees for that award also included Under 20 Long Jump World Champion Delta Amidzovski, Paris teen diver Ellie Cole, and Sydney FC football teen star Indiana dos Santos.
Despite being the only female in the list of nominees, Para Triathlon and Para Cycling Road Race Paralympic champion Lauren Parker was hard to deny - the fifth time she has won the award. In a video message, the always up front Lauren spoke about the challenges she had faced in the past year to achieve her success.
Then it was time for the final award, the Athlete of the Year. The quality of the nominees was perhaps best illustrated by those who didn’t even make the cut, such as Olympic gold medallist Noemie Fox. However the rockstars of Canoe Slalom kept it in the family, with sister Jess an unsurprising winner of the award for a sixth time.
Aside from her two gold medals in Paris, where she claimed the title for most individual Olympic medals by any Australian (6), it was another huge year for the 30 year old, as she went past 50 World Cup gold medals on her way to the overall Canoe World Cup title for the 7th time in her career.
In her speech, the superstar suggested she had no plans to retire anytime soon, teasing the possibility of a fourth Olympics in LA, but confirming her focus right now is for the 2025 World Champs in Penrith, which she hopes is well attended as the whitewater course celebrates 25 years since the Sydney Olympics.
HER WAY will have chats from the night with Jess Fox, Suzy Batkovic, Alex Blackwell, Ivy Walker, Jamieson Leeson and Pattie Dench coming up a bit later this week in a special video and podcast episode.
