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Jessica Halloran is a Walkley award-winning sports writer. She has been covering sport for two decades and has reported from Olympic Games, world swimming and athletics championships, the rugby World Cup as well as the AFL and NRL finals series. In 2017 she wrote Jelena Dokic’s biography Unbreakable which went on to become a bestseller.

@JessiHalloran

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FootballFootball

Matildas superstar Sam Kerr enjoying a family day out in Sydney … and sending a message about women’s sport. Picture: Matrix

Kerr keeping mum, but still sends a message

Sam Kerr’s return to the Matildas camp has been welcomed, as she took to the streets in Sydney with not a hint of the bother from her hellish past year.

Jessica Halloran

sportOlympics

Former Labor powerbroker Mark Arbib will be named as the Australian Olympic Committee chief executive.

Slam dunk: Mark Arbib appointed new Australian Olympic chief

The former Labor power broker and advisor to James Packer, was voted in by the AOC board to replace outgoing CEO Matt Carroll.

Jessica Halloran

MatildasFootball

Chelsea's Australian striker Sam Kerr arrives at Kingston Crown Court in south London on February 11, 2025. Prosecutors in the trial of Kerr, who called a police officer

Kerr meets Football Australia top brass; no action to be taken for London cop episode

Sam Kerr and Football Australia power brokers have finally met, with the Matildas captain admitting ‘sincere regret’ for a drunken incident in London; after reviewing the events, FA has concluded no further action was warranted.

Jessica Halloran

Olympic sportsOlympics

CORRECTED VERSION PARIS, FRANCE - JULY 25: Steven Van de Velde of Team Netherlands looks on during a Beach Volleyball training session on Day-1 of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at the Eiffel Tower Stadium on July 25, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Convicted child rapist may play in Adelaide

Organisers of this year’s World Championships say it is not their call whether controversial beach volleyball player Steven van de Velde competes.

Jessica Halloran

tennisTennis

TOPSHOT - Serbia's Novak Djokovic (R) speaks with Australia's Nick Kyrgios before a point during their men's doubles match against Michael Venus of New Zealand and Nikola Mektic of Croatia at the Brisbane International tennis tournament in Brisbane on January 1, 2025. (Photo by Patrick HAMILTON / AFP) / --IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE--

Kyrgios leads fight against ‘corrupt’ tour

Nick Kyrgios has joined Novak Djokovic’s players’ union in legal action that represents the biggest threat to the professional tennis tour in decades.

Jessica Halloran and Martyn Ziegler

Concussion in sportAFL

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 04: AFL CEO Andrew Dillon speaks to the media during a press conference at Luna Park on March 04, 2025 in Sydney, Australia. The AFL today announced that matches scheduled for Thursday night in Brisbane and Saturday on the Gold Coast will not go ahead as planned due to the cyclone predicted to affect Brisbane and Queensland this week. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

AFL reveals smart move on head injuries

Sydney and Geelong will use smart mouthguards to measure contact in training and games, among a raft of measures to be rolled out as the league works towards potentially reducing contact in training sessions, league CEO Andrew Dillon says.

Jessica Halloran

HumiliatedFootball

HOUSTON, TEXAS - FEBRUARY 20: EllieÂ Carpenter #21 of Australia throws the ball against Japan in the first half during the 2025 SheBelieves Cup at Shell Energy Stadium on February 20, 2025 in Houston, Texas. Maria Lysaker/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Maria Lysaker / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

Matildas’ drubbing means hard questions need to be asked

No coach, no shots and no hope. Why can’t the Matildas get their act together on the world stage?

Jessica Halloran

‘assured of welcome’Nation

OÃÂ»AHU, HAWAII - FEBRUARY 8: Two-time WSL Champion Tyler Wright of Australia after winning the Final at the Lexus Pipe Pro on February 8, 2025, at OÃÂ»ahu, Hawaii. (Photo by Tony Heff/World Surf League)

Aussie surfing champ to test UAE anti-gay laws

World No. 1 Tyler Wright, the only openly gay surfer on the WSL tour, says she’ll now compete in Abu Dhabi after previously slamming organisers for allowing the event to proceed there.

Jessica Halloran

‘Early days’Sport

** FEES APPLY - ONE TIME USE ONLY - FOR NETWORK USE ONLY ** MUST CREDIT TOLGA AKMEN/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Chelsea soccer player Sam Kerr leaves Kingston Crown court in southwest London, Britain, 11 February 2025. Chelsea striker and Australian captain Kerr has been found not guilty of racially aggravated harassment of a London police officer after a late-night taxi dispute in 2023. Chelsea footballer Samantha Kerr has been cleared of racially aggravated harassment, London, United Kingdom - 11 Feb 2025

Kerr cleared but captaincy on the line

While Matildas’ superstar Sam Kerr has been found not guilty of racially harassing a white police officer, Football Australia is yet to decide if she will keep the Australian captaincy.

Jessica Halloran and Jacquelin Magnay

exclusiveSport

Clockwise from main: whistleblower Paul Burgess was forced to resign from WAIS; the institute's chairman Neale Fong; WAIS chief executive Matt Fulton; Athletics Australia chair Jane Flemming. Picture: Colin Murty, Justin Kennedy

Athletics’ civil war over whistleblower

Australia’s athletics governing body has rebuked the WA Institute of Sport over its treatment of whistleblower Paul Burgess, urging its leadership to support the Olympic gold medal-winning coach.

Jessica Halloran and Stephen Rice

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/jessica-halloran