Australian athlete Nina Kennedy, who won gold in the pole vault at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest on 23 August, has been awarded the Bruce McAvaney Award for Performance of the Year at the Athletics Australia Awards. She shared first place in Hungary with reigning Olympic and 2022 World champion Katie Moon of Oregon, USA, both clearing 4.90m before sharing an emotional hug to seal the world title.

The award was announced a month before the start of the Chemist Warehouse Summer Series with the Adelaide Invitational (10 February). Kennedy was also honoured with the Marjorie Jackson Award for Female Able Bodied Athlete of the Year, while discus king Matthew Denny won the John Landy Award for Male Able Bodied Athlete of the Year after setting the Australian record for the second time last year with a throw of 68.43m to take the Diamond League trophy.

James Turner won the Russell Short Award for Male Para Athlete of the Year by winning his ninth and tenth global medals in the 100m and 400m T36 to remain unbeaten at the World Para Athletics Championships. Meanwhile, debutant Mali Lovell was named the Amy Winters Female Para Athlete of the Year for her silver medal in the 200m T36 at the World Para Athletics Championships in Paris.

Among the emerging athletes who stood out in 2023, Torrie Lewis won the Female Junior Athlete of the Year award after winning the sprint double at the 100th Australian Athletics Championships, while prodigious talent Cameron Myers took the Male Junior Athlete of the Year award for setting three world age bests in the 1500m, mile, and 3000m in 2023.

In the Coach of the Year category, former double Commonwealth Games silver medallist Paul Burgess took the Open award for the second year running for his work with world champion Kennedy and bronze Kurtis Marschall, also in Budapest. Myers' coach, Dick Telford, picked up the junior award. 

Athletics Australia Life Member Gerard Ryan's commitment to athletics was also recognised with the Official of the Year Award. Ryan has had a lifelong involvement in athletics, volunteering locally in Canberra and at meets across the country. In 2023, he played a leading role in the World Cross Country Trial and Australian Cross Country Championships in Canberra and was the competition director for the World Athletics Cross Country in Bathurst. 

The Athletics Australia Awards are held annually, and in 2023, they proudly celebrated the greatest achievements of one of the most successful years in Australian sporting history, with a record medal haul at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest and world-class performances at the World Para Athletics Championships in Paris.

2023 Athletics Australia Award Winners:

-Bruce McAvaney Award for Performance of the Year: Nina Kennedy.

-Marjorie Jackson Award for Female Able Bodied Athlete of the Year: Nina Kennedy.

-John Landy Award for Male Able Bodied Athlete of the Year: Matthew Denny.

-Russell Short Award for Male Para Athlete of the Year: James Turner.

-Amy Winters Award for Female Para Athlete of the Year: Mali Lovell.

-Female Junior Athlete of the Year: Torrie Lewis.

-Male Junior Athlete of the Year: Cameron Myers.

-Coach of the Year (Open athletes): Paul Burgess.

-Coach of the Year (Junior athletes): Dick Telford.

-Official of the Year: Gerard Ryan.