Legendary sports broadcast Bruce McAvaney has awarded his performance of the year to world champion pole vaulter Nina Kennedy.
McAvaney made the announcement on Channel 7’s Sunrise on Wednesday morning.
Kennedy shocked the world when she shared the gold medal with American Katie Moon after a gruelling battle at the world championships in Budapest.
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Kennedy twice smashed her own Australian record – with a first-time clearance at 4.85m and a gutsy last-ditch effort at 4.90m. In both instances, Moon responded in kind.
They then each had three unsuccessful cracks at 4.95m. With all of the other competitors long since eliminated, it could have gone to a jump-off to decide a single winner.
But when Kennedy broached the subject of sharing the gold, Moon was quick to take up the offer, which was sealed with an embrace.
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“It was not easy in one way because we had such a great year in Australian athletics, six medals in the world championships, but it came down to Nina, she was the world champion,” McAvaney said on Sunrise.
“It was an incredible competition, a battle royal and they came to this great conclusion at the end, they here were both spent and this is the Olympic champion up against our champion.
“In the last three world championships she has gone from third two years ago to the champion of the world along with Katie Moon
“She is one of the favourites now for the Olympic gold medal so that became the obvious performance of the year in 2023.”
McAvaney also shared a snippet of his chat with Kennedy with the Aussie champion said it was an honour to share the award.
“Katie is such a fierce competitor and I just felt honoured to share it with her. It was just the right thing to do and I have not thought about that decision since,” she said.
The Bruce McAvaney Award is handpicked by the TV icon and has been given to the best athletics performance of the year.
Middle-distance runner Olli Hoare won it last year, while Paralympic champion Madison de Rozario (2021) and decathlete Ashley Moloney (2020) are the other previous winners.
Kennedy also won the Marjorie Jackson Award for female Athlete of the Year, while discus king Matthew Denny claimed the John Landy Award for male Athlete of the Year, having set the Australian record for the second time last year with a 68.43m throw to take the Diamond League trophy.
