Date: 10/12/02

Olympic Gold medallists Alisa Camplin and Steve Bradbury have been named the joint recipients of ‘The Don’ award, one of the most prestigious honours in Australian sport.

The award was announced at the Sport Australia Hall of Fame 2002 Annual Dinner and Induction Ceremony on Thursday evening in front of a remarkable gathering of the past and present stars of Australian sport.

Although Alisa’s training schedule in North America prevented her attendance, Steven was on hand to accept the award from the Don’s son John Bradman.

The award, to honour a current Australian athlete who through his or her example in sport has most inspired the nation, was first conferred in 1998, and the impressive list of recipients since then have been Mark Taylor, Heather Turland, Ian Thorpe, Catherine Freeman and Patrick Rafter.

Steven and Alisa won this year’s award ahead of such high profile sportsmen and women as Lleyton Hewitt, Ian Thorpe, Matthew Hayden, Petria Thomas, Craig Parry and Brad McGee.

The recognition of the performances of the OWI duo is a tremendous boost for winter sports in this country, and an acknowledgment of how much we have achieved in the past few years.