Melbourne Cup-winner Michelle Payne, Olympic gold medallists Kim Brennan and Kyle Chalmers among nominees for The Don Award
THE year’s brightest sporting stars will tonight vie for The Don Award at the Sport Australia Hall of Fame induction and awards ceremony.
THREE Olympic stars, two inspiring Paralympians, a trailblazing jockey, a rugby league immortal in waiting and a history-making rugby sevens team will all vie for “The Don Award” in 2016.
The Sport Australia Hall of Fame shortlist for one of Australia’s most prestigious awards will be whittled down to one at tonight’s Champions of Our Nation induction and awards dinner.
Our athletes’ feats in Rio were fresh in the mind of selectors.
Swimmer Kyle Chalmers and rower Kim Brennan both won gold in August and have been nominated as a resulted.
Anna Meares may not have stood atop the podium once more, but in becoming Australia’s most successful female cyclist by winning a sixth Olympic medal, she once again inspired a nation — one of the award’s key hallmarks.
All-star wheelchair tennis athlete Dylan Alcott and war veteran turned canoeing gold medallist Curtis McGrath wowed us during the Paralympics, while in winning the first ever sevens gold medal our women’s Olympic rugby team may well have young girls around the country taking up the sport in droves.
Away from Rio, Johnathan Thurston’s all-round rugby league feats — not least his premiership-winning field goal for North Queensland in the 2015 NRL grand final — have resulted in nomination, while in becoming the first ever female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup, Michelle Payne’s heroics on Prince of Penzance have also been recognised.
Selection committee chairman Rob de Castella AO said it is not “the sports star or team” of the year award.
“It’s an award that seeks to capture, celebrate, recognise and reward the individual or team who has ‘most inspired the nation’ through their performance,” de Castella said.
“It is easy to be bedazzled by phenomenal athleticism and amazing sporting excellence, and there is nothing wrong with this.
“Indeed it is one of the greatest things about sport.”
Golfer Jason Day won the award in 2015.
DYLAN ALCOTT OAM (Tennis)
Now a three-time Paralympic gold medallist and one of only a few Paralympians to win gold in two different sports. In Rio, the world No. 1 quad tennis player won both the singles and doubles titles to go with his wheelchair basketball gold medal from Beijing 2008. In the past 12 months Alcott has also won two grand slam singles titles — the US Open and Australian Open.
KIM BRENNAN (Rowing)
Went into Rio as a reigning single sculls world champion and gold medal favourite. Harsh conditions nearly sunk her — literally — in her first heat, but she recovered to become the first Australian woman to win this event. Brennan was given the honour of carrying the Australian flag in the Closing Ceremony.
KYLE CHALMERS (Swimming)
The 18-year-old son of former Port Adelaide and Adelaide AFL player Brett, Chalmers became the first Australian male to win the 100m freestyle since Michael Wenden in 1968. Chalmers only made his senior international swimming debut 18 months prior and going in to the final was still playing second fiddle to race favourite and fellow Aussie Cameron McEvoy.
CURTIS MCGRATH (Canoeing)
From war veteran to Paralympic gold medallist. Four years ago McGrath stepped on a landmine while serving as an Australian Army combat engineer in Afghanistan. Having promised those who saved him that he would represent his country yet again, the 24-year-old made good on his vow by representing Australia at the Paralympics, where he ultimately won gold in the KL2 200m canoe sprint.
ANNA MEARES OAM (Cycling)
Prior to the Games Meares inspired her teammates with a stirring address upon selection as team captain and Opening Ceremony flag bearer. In taking bronze in the keirin — her sixth Olympic medal — Meares became Australia’s most successful female cyclist and the only Australian Olympian to win four medals across four disciplines in four Games.
MICHELLE PAYNE (Horse Racing)
Last November Payne became the first female jockey in the Melbourne Cup’s 155-year history to win “the race that stops the nation”. Her brother Steven, who has Down syndrome, was the strapper for winning horse Prince of Penzance, and played a big role in his preparation for the race. Together they touched the hearts of all Australians.
WOMEN’S RUGBY SEVENS TEAM
When it was announced that rugby sevens would be added to the Olympic program, the net was cast wide for players for Australia’s women’s team. They came from athletics, touch football, AFL and basketball to join those already playing the sport and the rest is history. A gold medal match win over New Zealand lauded as having done as much for Australian rugby as the World Cup wins of 1991 and 1999.
JOHNATHAN THURSTON (Rugby League)
Kicking the winning field goal in extra time for North Queensland to take its first NRL premiership was the high point in a season during which Thurston became the first person to win four Dally M medals. He won the Clive Churchill medal as player of the grand final, was voted Captain of the Year, Halfback of the Year and the Proven-Summons People’s Choice medallist as player of the year.
Originally published as Melbourne Cup-winner Michelle Payne, Olympic gold medallists Kim Brennan and Kyle Chalmers among nominees for The Don Award
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