5 Feb 2010

Big night for women at Halbergs

11:39 am on 5 February 2010

World and Olympic shot put champion Valerie Vili has won the supreme award at the Halberg Awards for the third straight year.

Vili was named sports woman of the year after retaining her world title last year in Berlin, and she joins board sailor Barbara Kendall as a four-time winner.

That makes Vili only the second person after rowing's Olympic champion Rob Waddell to complete a Halberg hat-trick.

She's also the first woman to capture the big trophy three times.

Rowing world champion Mahe Drysdale was named sportsman of the year and the double Olympic champion rowers Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell were crowned Sports Champions of the Decade.

The world champion rowing pair of Eric Murray and Hamish Bond were named team of the year, rowing's Richard Tonks coach of the year and cyclist Sam Webster won the emerging talent award.