Olympic gold medallist Sally Pearson and surfing legend Mick Fanning have joined the absolute elite of Australian sport after confirmation of their elevation to the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.
Motorsport great Mark Skaife, former Kookaburras’ captain Mark Knowles, lawn bowls trailblazer Karen Murphy and dual-sport Paralympics champion Liesl Tesch are the other 2024 inductees joining a lengthy list reserved for only the greatest Australian sports people in history.
Pearson is one of only nine Australian women ever to win an Olympic track and field gold medal, netting gold in London in 2012 and silver in 2008 in the 100m hurdles as well as World Championship success in 2011 and 2017 as two Commonwealth Games titles.
The first Australian to be named World Athlete of the Year, and already twice a winner of the SAHOF’s “The Don” Award, Pearson said it 스포츠토토사이트 was “surreal” to be included in such esteemed company, including the likes of Cathy Freeman, a childhood hero.
“I don’t think it’s really sunk in. It’s so surreal. It feels like it just happens to people you see on TV,” she said.
“I still feel like I’m watching the Sydney Olympics and watching Cathy Freeman run. When Steve Hooker won gold in Beijing I was sitting on the sidelines.
“Even though I won silver, I was thinking, this is really cool. I’m watching this person, this athlete, just doing amazing things. It’s a bizarre feeling that I’m one of those people now.”
Fanning enters as a three-time world champion as part of an illustrious surfing career headlined by his in South Africa in 2015.
Despite the shock incident, Fanning returned to the same waters the very next year and secured a famous victory to etch his name in Australian sporting folklore.