Ash Barty caps breakout year with Sportswoman of the Year award
World No.1 tennis player Ashleigh Barty's stellar 2019 continues to garner recognition after she was named Australia's sports woman of the year.
A week after winning The Don at the Sport Australia Hall Of Fame in Melbourne, Barty also took out the Women In Sport Moment of the Year for her French Open win.
Barty said she was fortunate to be nominated among so many other empowering women but to come away with the win was a bonus.
The Australian women's cricketers took out Team of the Year for a second time, while captain Meg Lanning won the leadership award.
Women Sport Australia communications director Louise Evans saluted Barty and the cricketers.
"Let's celebrate their amazing success, applaud their deserved achievements and not forget the fight for pay parity and equal media is ongoing," she said.
Evans pointed to the ICC T20 World Cups in Australia next year where the prize money pool is $US2.4 million ($A3.6 million) for the women's event compared to a prize pool of $US5.6 million ($A8.3 million) for the men.
Other winners at the Women's Health Women in Sport Awards included former netball captain Liz Ellis who was inducted into the Hall of Fame, and golfer Hannah Green who won the Federal Government Award for Outstanding Woman in Sport.
Lynne Anderson, the Bulldogs NRL chair and CEO of Paralympics Australia, was named the Person of Sporting Influence.
@womenshealthaus #WomenInSport moment of the year. Congratulations Ash Barty. What an amazing athlete and ambassador for for all women in sport.
— CRCollective (@CargoRoadSport) October 16, 2019
Women in Sport Awards 2019 winners:
Sportswoman of the Year - Ashleigh Barty, Tennis
Moment of the Year - Ashleigh Barty, Tennis
A-Team of the Year - Australian Women's Cricket Team
Leadership Legend - Meg Lanning, Cricket
Federal Government Award for Outstanding Woman in Sport - Hannah Green, Golf
Comeback of the Year - Lauren Parker, Paratriathlon
Local Sporting Champion - Lucy Grills, Polocrosse
One to Watch - Lani Pallister, Swimming
Hall of Fame - Liz Ellis, Netball
Person of Sporting Influence - Lynne Anderson, Chair, Bulldogs NRL, and CEO, Paralympics Australia.