NSW Champions of Sport – Dani Stevens

Join us as we celebrate the past winners of the NSW Sports Awards spanning over 20 years of sporting excellence and achievement – as we countdown to the inaugural NSW Champions of Sport, where, for the first time, the induction of new entrants into the NSW Hall of Champions will be combined with the NSW Sports Awards in one gala ceremony. 

In the lead up to the event, we will look back to our past crowned NSW Athlete of the Year and NSW Athlete of the Year with a Disability winners as they share their great joys and triumphs as well as life post their ‘dream year’ with successes both on and off the field.
 

Sport: Athletics
Event: Discus Throw & Shot Put – Women
NSW Athlete of the Year: 2009

Dani Stevens (nee Samuels) made her first global appearance at only 15 years of age when she represented Australia in shot put at the 2003 Youth World Championships. Dani went on to make her Olympic debut at the 2008 Beijing games in discus, as the youngest member of the Australian athletics team.

The following year in 2009, the year she was crowned NSW Athlete of the Year, Dani took her career to new heights by becoming the youngest world champion discus thrower of all time, taking out the title in Berlin with a throw of 65.44m. That year she also went on to claim gold at the World University Games beating Zaneka Glanc by a margin of two metres.

Reflecting on that year Stevens commented:

“2009 is the highlight of my career as I won the World Championships and the World University Games. I was 21 at the time and I threw a 2.5m personal best on the day to become the best in the world and the youngest in history to win that event in the discus.”

One of Stevens’ brightest moments came at the 2014 Commonwealth Games where she claimed gold with a throw of 64.88m.

Stevens’ achievements did not stop there. Her final appearance at the Olympics in Rio would turn out to be her strongest result at an Olympic games. She threw 64.90m on her final attempt in the final to claim fourth as Croatia’s Sandra Perkovic won gold with a throw of 69.21m.

Stevens continues to compete strongly at international level and believes that she still has a lot of throwing in front of her.

“I came second at the World Championships this year by throwing a personal best and breaking the Australian and Oceania Records. I plan to continue throwing over the next couple of years and hope to win a medal at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and the Tokyo Olympics in 2020,” said Stevens.

The cream of NSW Sports stars from both past and present will be celebrated at the NSW Champions of Sport Ceremony to be held at Rosehill Gardens on Monday 27 November 2017.

For more information on the NSW Champions of Sport Ceremony and to secure your seat visit: www.sportnsw.com.au/2017ChampionsofSport