Madison de Rozario wins top honor for women in sports, Lauren Jackson is inducted into the Hall of Fame

Paralympic great Madison de Rozario has won the top single honor at the Australian Women in Sport Awards.

Core items:

• Madison de Rozario is the first Australian para-athlete to win four gold medals at the Commonwealth Games
• Basketball legend Lauren Jackson is inducted into the Hall of Fame
• Ash Barty’s win at the Australian Open has been called a “stand-out moment”, while 19-year-old Matildas’ star Mary Fowler has been called “one to watch”.

She was named Athlete of the Year ahead of Australian Open champion Ash Barty, swimmer Emma McKeon, canoeist Jess Fox, soccer player Sam Kerr and CrossFit athlete Tia-Clair Toomey.

After winning two gold medals at last year’s Paralympics in Tokyo, de Rozario became the first Australian to win the New York Marathon in any category last November.

At that year’s Birmingham Commonwealth Games, de Rozario won the T54 1500m and marathon events, becoming the first Australian para-athlete to win four gold medals at the Games.

Barty’s win at the Australian Open in January was honored as a standout moment, while basketball great Lauren Jackson was inducted into the Awards Hall of Fame after coming out of retirement to play at the World Cup.

The all-conquering Australian cricketers were crowned champions for the third straight year at the awards, which took place in Sydney on Sunday night for the first time since 2019.

Retired Paralympic swim star Ellie Cole has been recognized by the federal government as the Outstanding Woman in Sport.

Two key figures from AFLW were honored at the awards: League General Manager Nicole Livingstone was named a Person of Sporting Influence and Collingwood player Chloe Dalton was honored as a Leadership Legend for her advocacy for women’s sports and the Paralympics.

Other awards included 19-year-old Matildas star Mary Fowler as the one to watch and 21-year-old Olympic swimmer Kaylee McKeown as a young achiever, while basketball umpire Jacqui Dover was honored as local sports champion.

AAP