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13 March 2008
Deakes wins AIS Athlete of the Year
Race walker, Nathan Deakes and cyclist, Anna Meares were today named joint winners of the prestigious Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Athlete of the Year award.
Announcing the winners in Canberra, the Minister for Sport, Kate Ellis praised both athletes for their outstanding performances over the past 12 months.
“Nathan and Anna have proven themselves to be world-class champions and conducted themselves with dignity and honour,” Ms Ellis said.
Nathan Deakes, an AIS scholarship holder since 1997, claimed gold for Australia when he won the 50 kilometre walk event at last year’s World Athletics Championships in Osaka.
The 30 year-old, who has already qualified for the Beijing Olympics, smashed the 50km world record with a time of 3:35:47 at the Australian Championships in Geelong late last year.
Winners of other awards announced were:
Malcolm Page / Nathan Wilmot (sailing) – AIS Team of the Year
Craig Hilliard (track and field) – AIS Coach of the Year
Gemma Beadsworth (water polo) – AIS Junior Athlete of the Year
AIS Sailing – AIS Program of the Year.
© ASC
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