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Olympic women's shot put champion, Valerie Vili, has captured New Zealand's ultimate sporting prize, the Halberg Award, for the second consecutive year.
The 24-year-old athlete emerged as the big winner at the 2008 Awards dinner in Auckland on Tuesday night, repeating her performance of last year by winning the Sportswoman of the Year category and then claiming the supreme Halberg Award.
The other category winners she headed off for the supreme award at the Vector Arena were Indy 500 champion Scott Dixon (Sportsman of the Year) and double-scull repeat Olympic gold medal pair, Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell (Sports Team of the Year).
Vili Makes History
Vili became only the third female to capture the big prize in the 60-year history of the awards, first won by cricketer Bert Sutcliffe in 1949.
Vili followed in the footsteps of fellow athlete Yvette Williams (1950 & 52) and lightweight rower Phillipa Baker (1989 & 94) as the only other women to win two Halberg Awards, and the first to score back-to-back wins.
She also became the 10th dual winner of the Halberg Award, and the first since rower Rob Waddell, the only three-time winner (1998, 99 & 2000).
Unable to make last year's dinner in Christchurch, as she was competing in Auckland on the night of the awards, this year Valerie was presented with the magnificent silver trophy by Olympic rowing single scull bronze medal winner, Mahe Drysdale, the 2006 Halberg Award winner.
For Vili 2008 was a year of total domination. She won every international competition she contested, and her first throw in the Olympic final of 20.56m, was a Commonwealth Games and NZ record throw.
It also completed a clean sweep of every major title available to her - Olympic, world indoor and outdoor, World Cup and Commonwealth Games.
The other finalists in the Sportswoman of the Year category were Sophie Pascoe (swimming), Val Smith (bowls) and Samantha Warriner (triathlon).
Dixon Awarded
In the Sportsman of the Year category, won by Dixon, the other finalists were Olympic board sailing winner Tom Ashley, Beijing individual pursuit silver medallist Hayden Roulston, US Amateur Golf Champion Danny Lee and 1500m Olympic bronze medal winner Nick Willis. Dixon was not able to be at the dinner but spoke by satellite from Indianapolis.
Dixon won the prestigious Indy 500 in May last year and also took out the drivers' championship for a second time to cap off a memorable year.
Ever-Swindell's fend of Kiwis
The Team category was won by Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell ahead of the Rugby League World Cup winning Kiwis, the All Blacks and the men's team pursuit cycling quartet from Beijing, which won a bronze medal.
The golden twins deservedly won the team award for their second consecutive gold medal at the Beijing Olympics but the World Champion Kiwis would have been a popular choice.
Young Guns
In the Emerging Talent category, which provides a $25,000 scholarship, the winner was 18-year-old Winter X Games free-skiing medal prospect Jossi Wells.
The other finalists were Chris Rahardja (karate), Paige Hareb (surfing) and Graham 0berlin-Brown (rowing).
Vili's Mentor
Vili's coach, Kirsten Hellier, completed a double when she won the Coach of the Year category. The other finalists in this distinguished group were Dick Tonks (rowing) and Grant Beck (board sailing) who coached Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell and Tom Ashley to their Olympic gold medals and Stephen Kearney, the successful Kiwis coach.
Hall of Fame
The dinner again inducted two former New Zealand sporting champions into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame.
They were Anne Audain, Commonwealth Games middle distance gold and silver medallist during the 1980s and squash ace Ross Norman, who won the 1986 World Cup Squash Title with a stunning four-set victory over then world champion Jahangir Khan, unbeaten for more than five years.
Special Awards
The recipients of two other special awards, were Ron Shakespeare (91), a long-time New Zealand swimming and Olympic administrator, who was manager of the NZ Commonwealth Games team at Jamaica in 1966, was presented with the Lion Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award.
This is a Halberg Trust initiative which recognises those who have made a substantial contribution to sport.
Former NZ squash representative Susie Simcock, president of the World Squash Federation since 1996 and National Olympic Committee Board member for more than 20 years, was presented with the SPARC Leadership Award by SPARC Chief Executive Peter Miskimmin.
Voting for the 2008 Halberg Awards was carried out by an academy of sporting journalists and former sporting greats.
