The Sport Australia Hall Of Fame has honoured women’s sport with its annual awards, recognising the Matildas and the 2000 water polo gold medallists.

Two ground-breaking moments in Australian sports history have been honoured, with the Matildas and the 2000 women’s water polo gold medallists winning major annual awards.

The Sport Australia Hall Of Fame has awarded the Don award to the Matildas for their inspiring performance at this year’s home World Cup, where they reached the semi-finals.

The Dawn award, introduced in 2021, recognises a person or body that has shown courage and changed sport for the better.

The Don Award

The Australian water polo team first successfully lobbied the International Olympic Committee in 1997 to have a women’s competition at the Games.

While the men had been competing at the Olympics for nearly a century by then, the women had lobbied for two decades.

The Australian team famously greeted IOC delegates at Sydney Airport with a noisy protest in their competition swimsuits and then gatecrashed an IOC media conference.

They then provided one of the highlights of the Sydney Games, beating the United States with a last-gasp goal in the gold medal game.

“The Matildas caused a seismic sporting shift, transforming women’s football, uniting country, inspiring the next generation of hopefuls and further elevating women’s sport with a long-deserved national profile,” the Hall Of Fame said in a statement.

The Matildas are preparing for friendlies in Canada and team member Kyah Simon accepted the Don award during a Friday function at the MCG.

Most members of the 2000 gold medal team attended the awards function, promising they would make the most of a rare team reunion.

“The Dawn award for 2023 absolutely epitomises recognition for achievement against the odds and upending the status quo,” the SAHOF said.

Socceroos star Tim Cahill was also inducted into the SAHOF at the function – the last of this year’s new members to be officially honoured.

The Don is named after Sir Donald Bradman and the Dawn is in honour of Dawn Fraser, who attended Friday’s function.