Sport
23 October, 2024
Olympians in Mount Isa for NQ Sportstar awards
The mining city will host the gala awards ceremony on Saturday night.
Some of Australia’s best athletes will be put on a pedestal in Mount Isa on Saturday as the North Queensland Sports Foundation prepares to honour 2024’s top achievers.
The NQ Sportstar Awards will be presented at a gala dinner at the Mount Isa Civic Centre, with more than 130 people expected to attend.
Among them will be one of our top swimmers, Grant “Scooter” Patterson, who has won two bronze medals at the Paralympics.
Joining him in Mount Isa will be 2024 Paris Olympian Tori West, who represented Australia in the women’s heptathlon.
Both are North Queensland products – Patterson calls Cairns home, while West is proudly from Townsville.
The Olympians are not only in town to be ambassadors for the NQ Sportstar Awards, they are also in line for gongs, having been named as finalists.
NQSF chief executive officer Stephen Farrell said he was thrilled to bring the awards to the Outback and said the North West would be well represented at the ceremony.
“We’ve 65 finalists across eight categories,” he said.
“There are world champions among them, as well as Olympians and Paralympians.
“Obviously some of them are away competing at the moment, so we won’t get them all here, but we will have a good turnout.”
Mr Farrell acknowledged that it was a busy night in Mount Isa, with the Mount Isa International Men’s Day event being staged at the same time, while many will be tuned into the Queensland election results on TV.
“(Former State of Origin star) Ben Hannant is our guest speaker and he will have a great story to tell those in attendance,” he said.
Mount Isa mayor Peta MacRae said she was looking forward to celebrating the achievements of North Queensland’s top athletes.
“It’s an exciting opportunity being the first time it’s been held in our city – this is something I have been lobbying for,” she said.
“Mount Isa has a rich and varied sporting history and it will be a great way for us to celebrate that.”
Mr Farrell said the awards night and gala dinner was about celebrating the tireless dedication required to excel in sport.
“These awards really celebrate our athletes from the grassroots,” he said.
“We want to recognise the hurdles that rural and regional athletes have to overcome to compete at the state or national level.”
