Best reporting of an issue in sport

This award for journalistic excellence recognises a story, or series of stories, on a single issue in sport. It seeks to promote responsible, well-researched and analytical coverage of issues affecting sport.

2022 Winner

Julian Linden, News Corp ‘Swimming takes the plunge’

FINA’s decision to ban transgender women from elite female competition was one of the most significant policy changes in sporting history. Due to the sensitivity and legal implications surrounding the issue, only a handful of people in the world knew about FINA’s plan. Julian Linden travelled to Eastern Europe and broke the story the day before the official announcement and the successful vote from FINA’s Congress. Read more: Julian Linden - inside story, opens in a new tab

Finalists

Tracey Holmes, ABC ‘Australian sport and the legacy of Lang Hancock’

Netball Australia thought it had avoided a financial black-hole with a multi-million dollar sponsorship deal with Hancock Prospecting. But the Diamond’s third-ever First Nations player expressed concern about wearing the name of a man who once advocated the genocide of her people. Teammates supported her. The fall out for Netball was swift and the issue sparked a nation-wide debate on potential conflict between athletes’ values and corporate sponsorship. Read more: The seven questions that preceded Hancock Prospecting’s decision to cut netball ties, opens in a new tab

Linda Pearce, CODE Sports ‘Investigation: Abuse in gymnastics’

A phone call to a contact led to a 7000-word investigation into abuse in Australian gymnastics. The report involved dozens of interviews over multiple weeks, gaining the trust of the families and their children, and scouring hundreds of pages confirming how vulnerable girls have been the subject of disturbing treatment and cover-ups from coaches, officials and others. Read more: Gymnastics can't silence disturbing questions, opens in a new tab

Matt Logue, News Corp ‘The Liz Cambage Australian Opals investigation’

This world exclusive, 12 months in the making, uncovered basketballer Liz Cambage’s abuse towards the Nigerian national team in a private scrimmage in Las Vegas in the lead-up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. It took several months to corroborate the details of the incident in Las Vegas to be confident of its accuracy, requiring strong relationships with key Australian and Nigerian players and officials. Read more: The five minutes of mayhem that ended Liz Cambage’s Opals career, opens in a new tab