2019 Queensland Sport Awards Winners

The world's number one ranked women's tennis player Ash Barty is The Courier-Mail Channel 7 Queensland Sport Star of the Year Award winner for 2019, announced at tonight's 25th Annual Queensland Sport Awards & Hall of Fame Presentation in Brisbane.

The black tie audience of close to 700 at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre heard the announcement of Barty's win at the end of a night which saw 11 Awards presented for Queensland's top on and off field sporting performances in the period October, 2018 to September, 2019 plus three further Service to Sport Awards presented for outstanding service. 

Barty's French Open triumph and her march up the world women's tennis rankings won her the State's top individual sporting award, having won the Queensland Junior Sport Star award back in 2011 for her Junior Wimbledon success, the same year that her Federation Cup compatriot in fellow Queenslander Sam Stosur took out the State's top award for her US open win over Serena Williams.

Barty beat another top class field of eight finalists in sailor Mat Belcher, water skier Jacinta Carroll, surfer Stephanie Gilmore, Hockeyroo Jodie Kenny, Test cricketer Marnus Labuschagne, surf lifesaver Georgia Miller, netballer Karla Pretorius and swimmer Ariarne Titmus.

Barty becomes the 19th individual to win the Sport Star of the Year sine since the State's current program of recognition and promotion of Queensland's top sporting achievement was established by QSport as the peak body for sport in 1995.

Prior to this year, the State's top award has been won over the past 24 years 12 times by males and 12 by females, with swimmer Susie O'Neill a three time winner and fellow Olympic swimming gold meadllists Cate Campbell and Grant Hackett, motorcycling ace Mick Doohan and Test cricketer Matt Hayden all dual winners. 

In the now familiar Queensland Sport Hall of Fame segment of the event, horse racing's top jockey Mick Dittman was elevated to Legend status while Olympic gold medal winners in swimmer Libby Trickett (nee Lenton) and Hockeyroo Angie Lambert (nee Skirving) joined Commonwealth Games star lawn bowler Kelvin Kerkow and Wallaby flanker of the 1960s in Jules Guerassimoff as inductees into the Hall of Fame.

Swimming provided three Award category winners on the night with World Swimming Championship gold medal winner Ariarne Titmus adjudged the Queensland Academy of Sport Peter Lacey Award for Sporting Excellence recipient, her coach Dean Boxall the LGAQ Queensland Sport Coach of the Year and junior World Champion swimmer and surf lifesaver Lani Pallister The Courier Mail Channel 7 Queensland Junior Sport Star of the Year. 

The XXXX Queensland Sport Team of Year Award went to the Brisbane Bandits for their fourth consecutive ABL Claxton Shield triumph while the Cairns based AUS CROCS White Water Rafting team that won the World Men's U19 title was named the Queensland Government sponsored Queensland Junior Sport Team of the Year.

AFL's Brisbane Lions CEO Greg Swann was named th Gallagher sponsored Queensland Sport Administrator of the Year, NRL referee Belinda Sharpe the Konica Minolta sponsored Queensland Sport Officiator of the Year, and Warwick polocrosse volunteer Robyn Fraser the Queensland Sport Volunteer of the Year sponsored by Brisbane City Council for her work on the staging of the Adina World Cup in April at Morgan Park in Warwick. 

The McDonald's sponsored Queensland Sport Athlete with a Disability award went to Townsville based sailor Chelseann Osborne for her gold medal in the Special Olympics World Games in Abu Dhabi in March. 

The Fed Cup Semi Final Australia vs Belarus in Brisbane over Easter won by the Ash Barty led Australians was the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre sponsored Queensland Sport Event of the Year.

The Queensland Government sponsored Service to Sport Awards were awarded to polocrosse's Les Fraser, softball's Audrey McLaughlin and croquet's Carolyn Ribone for their decades of contribution to their sport - all up some 170 years.