ABC Sports Award of the Year

Last updated

ABC Sports Award of the Year was one of the premier sports awards in Australia. From 1951 to 1983, it was called the ABC Sportsman of the Year Award. [1]

Contents

The award was originally voted for by Australian Broadcasting Corporation sports supervisors and the sports editors of major Australian newspapers. After 1983, members of the Australian Sportswriters' Association also voted. [2] The awards were first presented on television in 1957. [3]

Swimmer Dawn Fraser was voted as the best Australian sportsman of the 25 years in 1975 as part of the award silver jubilee celebrations. [2]

In 1993, there was a merger of the Sport Australia Awards and the ABC Sports Award of the Year with the new award known as ABC Sport Australia Awards. [4] After 1994, the new award removed the ABC from its title. [5] The award was later known as the Australian Sport Awards and ceased in 2006. The main national annual awards are Sport Australia Hall of Fame Awards and the Australian Institute of Sport Awards.

Individual award winners

YearAthleteSport
1951 Frank Sedgman Tennis
1952 Marjorie Jackson Athletics
1953 Jimmy Carruthers Boxing
1954 John Landy Athletics
1955 Peter Thomson Golf
1956 Betty Cuthbert Athletics
1957 Stuart Mackenzie Rowing
1958 Herb Elliott Athletics
1959 Jack Brabham Motor racing
1960 Herb Elliott Athletics
1961 Richie Benaud Cricket
1962 Dawn Fraser Swimming
1963 Margaret Smith Tennis
1964 Dawn Fraser Swimming
1965 Ron Clarke Athletics
1966 Jack Brabham Motor racing
1967 Heather McKay Squash
1968 Lionel Rose Boxing
1969 Rod Laver Tennis
1970 Margaret Court Tennis
1971 Shane Gould Swimming
1972 Shane Gould Swimming
1973 Stephen Holland Swimming
1974 Raelene Boyle Athletics
1975 Bart Cummings Horse racing
1976 Greg Chappell Cricket
1977 Graham Marsh Golf
1978 Tracey Wickham Swimming
1979 David Graham Golf
1980 Alan Jones Motor racing
1981 Geoff Hunt Squash
1982 Robert de Castella Athletics
1983 Robert de Castella Athletics
1984 Jon Sieben Swimming
1985 Jeff Fenech Boxing
1986 Greg Norman Golf
1987 Wayne Gardner Motorcycle racing
1988 Debbie Flintoff-King Athletics
1989 Kerry Saxby Athletics
1990 Hayley Lewis Swimming
1991 Ian Baker-Finch Golf
1992 Kieren Perkins Swimming
1993 Greg Norman Golf
1994 Kieren Perkins Swimming

[2] [6] [5]

Most Outstanding Team Award Winners

Team award was introduced in 1987.

YearTeamSport
1987 Australian cricket team Cricket
1988 Australia women's national field hockey team (Hockeyroos) Field hockey
1989 Australian cricket team Cricket
1990 Australian men's rowing coxless four crew (Oarsome Foursome) Rowing
1991 Australian rugby union team (Wallabies) Rugby union
1992 Australian men's rowing coxless four crew (Oarsome Foursome) Rowing
1993 Australian cricket team (joint winner) Cricket
1993Australian Men's Team Pursuit Team (joint winner) Cycling

[2] [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cathy Freeman</span> Australian athlete and Olympic gold medallist (born 1973)

Catherine Astrid Salome Freeman is an Aboriginal Australian former sprinter, who specialised in the 400 metres event. Her personal best of 48.63 seconds currently ranks her as the eighth-fastest woman of all time, set while finishing second to Marie-José Pérec's number-four time at the 1996 Olympics. She became the Olympic champion for the women's 400 metres at the 2000 Summer Olympics, at which she lit the Olympic Flame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shane Gould</span> Australian swimmer

Shane Elizabeth Gould is an Australian former competition swimmer. She won three gold medals, a silver medal and a bronze, at the 1972 Summer Olympics. In 2018, she won the fifth season of Australian Survivor, becoming the oldest winner of any Survivor franchise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ron Clarke</span> Australian long-distance runner (1937–2015)

Ronald William Clarke, AO, MBE was an Australian athlete, writer, and the Mayor of the Gold Coast from 2004 to 2012. He was one of the best-known middle- and long-distance runners in the 1960s, notable for setting seventeen world records.

John Edwin BertrandAO is a yachtsman from Australia, who skippered Australia II to victory in the 1983 America's Cup, ending 132 years of American supremacy, and the only time Australia has won. Bertrand won the bronze medal in the Finn competition at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. In 2010 and 2016, he won the world Etchells class sailing championships. He is a life member of both the Royal Brighton Yacht Club in Melbourne, and the Sorrento Sailing Couta Boat Club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louise Sauvage</span> Australian paralympic athlete

Alix Louise Sauvage, OAM is an Australian paralympic wheelchair racer and leading coach.

Richard Ian CharlesworthAO is an Australian sports coach and former politician. He played first-class cricket for Western Australia and international field hockey for the Kookaburras, winning a silver medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics and winning the World Cup in 1986. Charlesworth served as a federal member of parliament from 1983 to 1993, representing the Labor Party. After leaving politics, he was appointed coach of the Hockeyroos, leading them to Olympic gold medals in 1996 and 2000. Charlesworth later coached the Kookaburras from 2009 to 2014, and has also worked in consulting roles with the New Zealand national cricket team, the Australian Institute of Sport, and the Fremantle Football Club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruce McAvaney</span> Australian sports broadcaster (born 1953)

Bruce William McAvaney OAM is an Australian sports broadcaster with the Seven Network. McAvaney has presented high-profile events including the AFL Grand Final, Melbourne Cup, Australian Open, Test cricket and both Winter and Summer Olympics, as well as annual special events such as the Brownlow Medal. McAvaney is well known for his commentary of AFL matches as well as covering every Summer Olympic Games from Moscow 1980 to the Tokyo 2020.

Jack Ernest PollardOAM was an Australian sports journalist, writer and cricket historian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Milton (skier)</span>

Michael John Milton, OAM is an Australian Paralympic skier, Paralympic cyclist and paratriathlete with one leg. With 6 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze medals he is the most successful Australian Paralympic athlete in the Winter Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Sports Media Association</span> American organization of sports media members

The National Sports Media Association (NSMA), formerly the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association, is an organization of sports media members in the United States, and constitutes the American chapter of the International Sports Press Association (AIPS).

The Australian Sport Awards, originally called the Sport Australia Awards, were established by the Confederation of Australian Sport in 1980. From 1980 to 1996, the awards were limited to seven categories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Priya Cooper</span> Australian Paralympic swimmer (born 1974)

Priya Naree Cooper, is an Australian world champion disabled swimmer, winning nine Paralympic gold medals as well as world records and world championships. She competed in the Australian swimming team at the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Summer Paralympics with an S8 classification. She was twice the co-captain of the Australian Paralympic team, including at the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney, and carried the Australian flag at the closing ceremonies for the 1992 and 1996 Summer Paralympics. Cooper has cerebral palsy and spends much of her time in a wheelchair. She attended university, working on a course in health management. After she ended her competitive Paralympic career, she became a commentator, and covered the swimming events at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dylan Alcott</span> Australian wheelchair athlete (born 1990)

Dylan Martin Alcott, is an Australian former wheelchair tennis player, former wheelchair basketball player, radio host and motivational speaker. Alcott was a member of the Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team, known colloquially as the Australian "Rollers". At the age of 17, he became the youngest Rollers gold medal winner, at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, and was the youngest to compete in the wheelchair basketball competition. In 2014, he returned to wheelchair tennis with the aim of participating at the 2016 Rio Paralympics, at which he won gold medals in the Men's Quad Singles and Doubles. He was named the 2016 Australian Paralympian of the Year due to his outstanding achievements at Rio.

Paralympics Australia (PA) previously called the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) (1998–2019) is the National Paralympic Committee in Australia for the Paralympic Games movement. It oversees the preparation and management of Australian teams that participate at the Summer Paralympics and the Winter Paralympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Hall (Australian tennis)</span> Australian wheelchair tennis player

David Robert Hall, OAM is an Australian former professional wheelchair tennis player. With eight US Open singles titles, two Masters singles titles, and a Paralympic gold medal in singles, he has been referred to as Australia's greatest ever wheelchair tennis player.

Karl Peter Thomas Feifar, OAM was an indigenous Australian amputee athlete and Paralympic competitor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Bloomfield (academic)</span> Australian sport academic; (1932–2022)

John Bloomfield was an Australian sport and sport science academic and author. Bloomfield played a crucial role in the development of the Australian high performance sport system between 1973 and 1989, particularly in relation to the Australian Institute of Sport and the Australian Sports Commission. While active in the above, he lectured and conducted research at the University of Western Australia and, from time to time, in North America and Eastern and Western Europe.

Perry Rothrock Crosswhite AM is a former Australian Olympic basketballer and leading sport administrator.

Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) was opened in 1981. AIS Sports Star of the Year was first established in 1983/84 with the first winner being swimmer Karen Phillips. In 1995, AIS Junior Athlete of the Year was established. Other major awards include AIS Team of The Year, AIS Coach of the Year and AIS Program of the Year. Other awards included: Sport Achievement Awards, Vocation Awards and Education Awards. There were several memorial scholarship awards that recognise the contribution of deceased AIS athletes, coaches and administrators - Brent Harding Memorial Award for Swimming, Nathan Meade Memorial Award for Diving, Gary Knoke Memorial Award for Athletics, Darren Smith Memorial Award for Road Cycling, Ben Mitchell Medal for AFL and Bob Staunton Memorial Award for Basketball.

The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and Dawn Fraser the first female inductee. In 1989, the Hall of Fame was expanded to include associate members who have assisted in the development of sport in Australia. In 2012, there were 518 members. Each year the Hall of Fame inducts notable retired athletes, associate members and upgrades one member to 'legend' status.

References

  1. "Sporting heroes to walk over water at awards". Canberra Times. 14 January 1990. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Ampol Australian Sporting Records (8th rev. ed.). Sydney: Bantam. 1988.
  3. "ABC TV firsts". ABC website. Archived from the original on 7 January 2010. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  4. "Inaugural ABC Sport Awards". Sport Report. 13 (4): 3. 1993–1994.
  5. 1 2 Miller's Guide 2002. Melbourne: Herald and Weekly Times. 2002. p. 638.
  6. 1 2 Oxford Companion to Australian sport (2nd ed.). Melbourne: Oxford University Press. p. 471.