Three-time Olympian Suzy Batkovic inducted into NSW Hall of Champions
Townsville councillor and three-time Olympian Suzy Batkovic’s basketball success will now be displayed side-by-side with fellow sporting greats such as Sir Donald Bradman and Dawn Fraser.
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Only a few months after being inducted into the Basketball Australia Hall of Fame, three time Olympian Suzy Batkovic has been named as one of the next inductees of the New South Wales Hall of Champions.
Raised out of Newcastle NSW, Ms Batkovic said she was honoured to be joining the list of Australian sporting greats that already line the hall of champions at Sydney Olympic Park, including Sir Donald Bradman and Dawn Fraser.
“It’s hard to put into words, it’s really a great honour,” she said.
“As an athlete you play because you love the sport, you love the game and you love representing your country. That’s your motivation behind it … for me these (awards) are a different great honour.
“I am proud of what I achieved and accomplished in my career and there’s been a lot of work, blood and sweat, tears, heartbreak, highs and lows.”
The NSW Hall of Champions pays tribute to the state’s highest performing athletes, with only 394 sportsmen and women inducted since 1979.
The current Townsville City councillor said she was grateful she could share this achievement with her family who constantly supported her throughout her successful career.
“That’s probably something that’s really great is that I can actually share it with my family because they’ve been through it all,” Ms Batkovic said.
“This isn’t just about me, but there have been a lot of people through my career that have helped and been there through particularly hard times and the lessons, and I’m really thankful for those people over the course of my career.”
“I think your greatest lessons do come from failure, when you don’t achieve a goal or you lose a game or whatever that failure looks like, I think you learn a lot from that so to be able to share (this award) with family and friends is going to be incredible.”
The ceremony will be held at the end of November, with Ms Batkovic travelling down to Sydney with her twin daughters Charli and Layla and getting the chance to catch up with family members such as her mum, brother and cousin.
“(The twins) have just turned five and they don’t really understand it … but they’ve seen some footage and photos and they get super excited so generally they say ‘we want to play basketball like mummy,’” she said.
“Is about making sure that they try all sports and they choose for themselves but I wouldn’t be sad if one of them picked up a basketball and loved it and hopefully take out all my accomplishments and be better than what I was.”
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Originally published as Three-time Olympian Suzy Batkovic inducted into NSW Hall of Champions
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