2012 Olympic silver medallist Caster Semenya has been nominated for two prestigious categories at the 2013 Gauteng Sports Awards.
The running ace is up against fellow Olympic medallist Bridgitte Hartley and Golden Lions rugby star for the Sportswoman of the Year award.
Semenya is also the only woman vying for the coveted Sports Personality of the Year award, alongside Olympic gold medallist Cameron van der Burgh and Paralympic gold medallist Samkelo Radebe.
South Africa’s number one women’s wheelchair tennis star Kgothatso Montjane leads the nominations for Disabled Sportswoman of the Year, where she is up against South Africa’s top rallying blind navigator, Bonita Blankenberg and wheelchair basketball star, Masego Goodness Mokhine.
Other notable women nominees include Fran Hilton-Smith from SAFA Women’s Football, who is up against Karen Losch from Wheelchair Tennis and Anna Addinall from Wrestling for the Administrator of the Year award.
The Gauteng MEC for Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation, Lebogang Maile, announced the finalists at a glittering star studded event in Sandton tonight, setting the tone for the forthcoming glamorous ceremony to honour Gauteng’s sporting stars at the end of this month.
The MEC also announced National Lotteries, Emperors Palace and Ekurhuleni municipality as the sponsors who have put their weight behind this year’s edition of the awards which will reward excellence from 1 January to 31 December 2012.
“The journey to celebrating our sporting icons is reaching its peak, we would like to congratulate all the sportsmen and women who have been selected, all finalist are great achievers in their own right and are already winners by making it this far. We also thank the adjudication panel for the good work they have done during the adjudication process which dealt with more than one hundred and ninety nominations,” said MEC Maile.
The Gauteng Sports Awards will be held at the Emperors Palace on the 29th of June 2013 and will be broadcast live on SABC 1 from 8pm to 10pm.
2013 Gauteng Sports Awards Categories featuring Women Nominees: Most Promising Player: Danelle Wentzel – Archery Kirsten Beckett – Gymnastics Dylan Compton – Ice Hockey Technical Official of the Year: Charmaine Glynis Ho – Archery John Wright – Hockey Michelle Joubert – Hockey Sportswoman of the Year: Caster Semenya – Athletics Bridgitte Hartley – Canoeing Bonakele Sibiya – Rugby Disabled Sportswoman of the Year: Kgothatso Montjane – Wheelchair Tennis Bonita Blankenberg – Motorsport Masego Goodness Mokhine – Wheelchair Basketball Sports Personality of the Year: Cameron van der Burgh – Swimming Caster Semenya – Athletics Samkelo Radebe – Athletics Administrator of the Year: Anna Addinall – Wrestling Karen Losh – Wheelchair Tennis Fran Hilton Smith – Women’s Football