Arguably the greatest ever collection of Australian sporting champions gathered last night at the Crown Palladium Room in Melbourne for the 24th Sport Australia Hall of Fame Dinner and Induction Ceremony. Legends of the past including Rob deCastella, Wally Lewis, Ron Barrasi and Raelene Boyle joined recently retired greats Ian Thorpe, Alisa Camplin, Todd Woodbridge and current day champions; Stephanie Rice and Sally McLellan to name a few.

The Don Award

The highlight of the night was the much anticipated announcement of the winner of the Don Award. Named after Sir Donald Bradman, the “Don” recognizes the sporting achievement of the year which has inspired the nation.

From a strong group of nominees including Stephanie Rice’s three Gold Medal World Record winning performances in Beijing; Anna Meare’s brave Silver Medal Cycling performance only months after a shocking road accident which saw her narrowly escape paralysis; Sally McLellan’s race of her life to win Silver in the 100m Hurdles; Emma Snowsill’s performance in the triathlon where she blitzed the field to win by more than a minute; and Casey Stoner’s first Moto GP title win by a huge 125 points or the equivalent of five races from his nearest opponent; it was Steve Hooker’s leap for gold in the Men’s Pole Vault, the first Australian man to win athletics gold for 40 years adding the Olympic Record to his name and Michael Mitcham whose near perfect dive from the 10m platform, scored 112.10 – the highest record in Olympic history to snatch gold; which were recognized to be the outstanding sporting achievements of the year.

“This year the performance of Steve Hooker and Michael Mitcham were two of the absolute highlights of the Beijing Olympics. Few pundits expected them to bring home Gold; to do so in such thrilling fashion was sport at its most inspiring.” Said Sport Australia Hall Of Fame chairman John Bertrand.

The Legend Inductee

Despite having over 400 members, only 27 SAHOF members have ever been elevated to Legend status. Tonight, to a rousing reception, racing’s “Cups King,” Bart Cummings was inducted as our Legend by Golfing great Peter Thomson and the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. According to Sport Australia Hall of Fame Chairman John Bertrand, “Bart’s record in thoroughbred racing is remarkable. Whilst his success with stayers includes 11 Melbourne Cups and six Caulfield Cups, his record with sprinters is also impressive with four victories in the Golden Slipper. Not many people have a sporting career spanning five decades; let alone who are still winning at the highest level.”

Member Inductees

Our Member Inductees have a remarkable set of achievements including seven Olympic Gold Medals, 22 World Championship victories, US National All Star Baseball selection, 15 Wimbledon Men’s doubles titles, 22 Australian Rugby League “Kangaroo” jerseys, Australia’s first ever Skiing Gold Medal at the Winter Olympics, a VFL Premiership Captaincy combined with a multi media career and the World Swimming “Coach of the Quadrennium in 1992 – 1996”. The group including Ian Thorpe, David Nilsson, Todd Woodbridge, Mark Woodforde, Allan Langer, Alisa Camplin, Lou Richards and John Carew are an amazing and diverse team of sporting champions, who all competed and won at the highest level of their chosen sport.

Tonight they were inducted by existing Sport Australia Hall of Fame Members. Due to sickness Swimming Coach John Carew was unable to attend, however his world famous protégé Kieran Perkins accepted “Mr. Carew’s” award on his behalf. Triple Brownlow Medalist Bobby Skilton inducted fellow VFL great and multi media star Lou Richards, Aerial Skiing Gold Medalist Alisa Camplin was inducted by Winter Olympics senior administrator Geoff Hencke, Australian Baseball star David Nilsson was inducted by former Australian Cricket Captain Steve Waugh, Australia’s greatest doubles player Todd Woodbridge was inducted by “Muscles” Ken Rosewall, the other half of the “Woodies” combination Mark Woodforde was inducted by his Davis Cup Captain Neale Fraser and Rugby League’s Allan Langer was inducted by League’s “King” Wally Lewis. Australia’s greatest swimmer Ian Thorpe was inducted by another swimming great Murray Rose.

SAHOF Scholarships

Our sporting champions of the future were also recognized tonight with eight young Australians awarded Sport Australia Hall Of Fame scholarships. In addition to a cash component, the scholarships have a unique mentoring opportunity with current members.
The Sport Australia Hall of Fame invites current members to act as Heroes and Mentors to the scholarship winners. These members donate their time and expertise to these young stars as they emerge onto the world sporting stage.
According to Chairman John Bertrand, “Our Mentors and Heroes are available for our scholarship holders to pass on advice and experience. They know what competing at the highest level is all about. This is a unique and important element of our scholarship program as it enables our members to inspire our future stars.”

2008 Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship Winners
Jack Bobridge;    The Australian Junior Male Road Cyclist of the Year and member of the Beijing Olympic Team – from Adelaide
Josephine Tomic:    Australian Junior Track and Road Cyclist of the year – from Western Australia
Kurt Mulcahy:    Member of the 4x400m Beijing Olympic relay team – from NSW
Megan Nay:    From Queensland, Megan holds the Commonwealth record for the 200m Backstroke and made the final in Beijing.
Casey Eastam:    Casey is the youngest member of the Australian Men’s Hockey team, the famous Hockeyroo’s from NSW
Kyle Davis:    Kyle is a member of the Australian Olympic Table Tennis Team, from Victoria
Sam Kivell:    Victorian Sam Kivell along with Sailing partner Max Taylor won the 420 Nationals Sailing Championships and is on target for London in 2012.
Anabelle Smith:    Also from Victoria who is one of the country’s finest Divers.

Our current Members who will act as Mentor’s and Heroes to the 2008 Scholarship Winners are:- former Wallaby Captain John Eales, Sprint Champion Raelene Boyle, Hockey great Rachelle Hawkes, legendary cycling coach Charlie Walsh, Olympic Swimming Champion Duncan Armstrong and VFL goal kicking champion Peter Hudson to name a few.

The 24th Sport Australia Hall of Fame Dinner and Induction Ceremony were proudly presented by Australian Air Express, in its 11th year as principal sponsor.

According to Australian air Express Chief Executive Officer, Wayne Dunn, “At Australian air Express we feel that the vision and achievements of SAHOF in supporting Australian sportspeople mirror our approach to our business and our people. It is for this reason that AaE is proud to be associated with the Sports Australia Hall of Fame. “

Australian Air Express was joined tonight by event sponsors Mercedes-Benz, Skilled Group and Fosters Group. Our media partners are News Limited and Fox Sports.

Tags: 24th Sport Australia Hall of Fame Dinner and Induction Ceremony, Alisa Camplin, ian thorpe, Rob deCastella, Ron Barrasi and Raelene Boyle, Sally McLellan, Stephanie Rice, Todd Woodbridge, Wally Lewis