Two University of Johannesburg (UJ) athletes took top honours among Gauteng’s sport stars on Sunday evening, 2 October 2016 at Silverstar Casino, Mogale City. Alyssa Conley took the coveted Sportswoman of the Year Award while Andrea Dalle Ave was honoured with a Sport Personality of the Year Award.
Conley, a 100 m and 200 m athlete, UJ alumnus and member of the UJ Athletics Club, stood out among two highly talented individuals Sune Luus (Women’s Cricket) and Patience Ntshingila (Athletics, Triple Jump).
Conley was born in 1991 and is a 1 x African champion, 1 x African Championships Silver medalist, 2 x African Junior Championships Silver medalist, and 5 x National champion.
She represented South Africa at the Rio Olympics in August 2016.
Dalle Ave outshone some of the Gauteng Province (and nationally and internationally acclaimed sports stars) sports personalities such as Janine van Wyk (Women’s Football), Kagiso Rabada (Cricket) and Keegan Dolly (Football).
Ave recently represented South Africa in the 2016 Rio Paralympics in long jump. He set an African record at the National Championships for the Physically Disabled last year. In April 2015 he beat his own mark of 6.02m set at the 2012 London Paralympics when he claimed first place in the T31 long jump with a distance of 6.05m. In 2015, he won the Sportsman with a Disability title at the Gauteng Sport Awards.
Guests from the sporting fraternity, business and entertainment industry came together to celebrate the outstanding achievements and excellence that Gauteng athletes, sport officials, sport fans and the media have demonstrated.
The finalists were shortlisted by a panel of independent adjudicators, comprising of individuals from the media, academic and sporting fraternity. The selection, nominations and voting processes were professionally audited and monitored by an external company.
See full list of winners here: http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/sport/2016/10/03/kagiso-rabada-para-star-teen-ntando-mahlangu-win-big-at-gauteng-sports-awards.
