Who deserves to be crowned Australia’s 2021 sportswoman of the year

We’ve witnessed some of the most iconic, historic and emotional feats of strength inside a sporting arena ever, by Australian sportswomen. Who was the best?

Who is Australia's sportswoman of the year?

Sally Pearson got the ball rolling and the mind racing.

“Who would be your 2021 Australian sportswoman of the year?” Pearson asked her mass of followers on Twitter on Thursday night.

You can still see Pearson smiling as she hit, ‘Tweet.’

Because amid the drab and drain of statewide lockdowns, the fuss and stress of homeschooling, life from the lounge in 2021 has also included some of the most iconic, historic and emotional feats of strength inside a sporting arena ever, by Australian sportswomen.

I’ll provide my answer to Pearson’s pondering, but first a list of nominees:

Emma McKeon poses with the four gold medals she won at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Picture: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

EMMA MCKEON – SWIMMING

McKeon’s incredible seven medal-haul in the pool at the Tokyo Olympics in August matched Soviet gymnast Maria Gorokhovskaya’s record for the most medals won by a female athlete at a games.

Let’s say that again.

McKeon, from Wollongong, equalled the most number of medals ever won by a woman at an Olympic games.

Ramming that point home is the fact that it’s been 69-years since Gorokhovskaya achieved her own stunning haul. Just think how many several thousand female Olympians have competed during that time.

Jess Fox’s relief after finally winning gold at the Olympics. Picture: Alex Coppel

JESS FOX – CANOE/KAYAK

Expectation and pressure to surpass her silver and bronze medals of London 2012 and Rio 2016, travelled with Fox to Tokyo.

Fox has been the world‘s best paddler on whitewater for years. But the Olympic gold medal had proven her unicorn.

With her emotional father Richard in commentary, Fox powered to her Olympic glory in the C1 (canoe) in Tokyo.

She not only won the C1 event – she smashed the field, winning by just under four seconds to her nearest rival.

Tokyo was a culmination of a little girl’s dream and a young woman’s perseverance, in a sport that struggles to attract the headlines and sponsorship deals like others.

Australia's Ariarne Titmus beat the great Katie Ledecky on her way to the 200-400m freestlye double. Picture: Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP

ARIARNE TITMUS – SWIMMING

If Titmus ever dreamt of what her Olympic debut would be like, this was it.

The 21-year-old Tasmanian twice dethroned the near-unconquerable Katie Ledecky to claim two Olympic golds in the women’s 200m and 400m freestyle events.

Titmus then parlayed her extraordinary achievements with a silver and bronze in the 800m freestyle and 4x200m relay respectively.

Her achievements garner even more lustre when you consider that she has joined swimming legend Shane Gould and Ian Thorpe as the only Australians ever to win the Olympic 200-400m freestyle double.

Sam Kerr of the Matildas reacts after winning the Women's International Friendly match between the Australia Matildas and Brazil at CommBank Stadium on October 23. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

SAM KERR – FOOTBALL

“Kerr-Pow” just keeps getting better on football‘s world stage.

So much so, Kerr has been included onto the 20-strong shortlist for the 2021 Women’s Ballon d’Or, the prize for being the world’s best footballer which will be announced later this month.

The Matildas captain has been rewarded for her goal scoring prowess over the past year which has seen her win the Golden Boot as the top scorer in England’s Women’s Super League with Chelsea.

Kerr, whose goals helped Chelsea to a league/league cup double while also shooting them to the Champions League final, is again topping the scoring charts in the WSL this season after scoring six for the Matildas in Tokyo.

Jamie Kah after Second Slip (NZ) won the Neds Filter Form Handicap, at Caulfield Racecourse on August 14, 2021 in Caulfield, Australia. (Reg Ryan/Racing Photos via Getty Images)

JAMIE KAH – HORSE RACING

Kah may have been a stark omission from this year’s Spring Carnival – due to suspension – but the champion jockey’s success in 2021 can’t be denied.

The 25-year-old was the toast of Australian racing only a couple of months ago when she became the first woman to win the Scobie Breasley Medal – Victoria’s most prestigious jockey award.

Kah became the first jockey to achieve the remarkable milestone of 100 Victorian metropolitan wins in a single season, breaking Brett Prebble’s 21-year record of 99.5 wins at Caulfield.

Kah won the 2020-21 metropolitan jockeys premiership by riding a record 105 winners in the season, and was adjudged the Victorian Jockey Association’s most valuable hoop of the year.

Ashleigh Barty of Australia celebrates with the Venus Rosewater Dish trophy after winning the Ladies' Singles title at Wimbledon in 2021. Picture: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

ASH BARTY – TENNIS

Barty, is who I view as the 2021 Australian Sportswoman of the Year.

On an inspiring list of extraordinary sporting performances this year, nothing can surpass the tennis star, who remarkably took a hiatus to play professional cricket only five years ago.

Before Barty‘s incredible Wimbledon triumph in July, only Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Simona Halep, had won both the French Open and Wimbledon trophies since 2000.

Barty joined that short, but revered list with her heart-stopping 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 win over Karolína Pliskova.

Barty’s Wimbledon victory was also 50-years on from Evonne Goolagong-Cawley’s first Wimbledon title. After her epic win, Barty was asked what Goolagong-Cawley meant to her. “I hope I made Evonne proud,” Barty said.

What a champion.