Jess Fox has been voted the 2014 athlete of the year at the inaugural AIS Sport Performance Awards (ASPA) after becoming the first canoe slalom athlete to win the world championship in two classes.
The 20-year-old won gold medals in the C1 and K1 races at last year's world titles, two years after picking up the silver in the K1 at the London Olympics.
Her parents Richard and Myriam were also Olympic canoeists, with her mother claiming a bronze for France at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
The two ASPAs decided by public vote went to champion wheelchair athlete Kurt Fearnley and NRL champions South Sydney.
Fearnley won sports personality of the year and the Rabbitohs were honoured with the performance of the year having won their first NRL title since 1971.
Fearnley capped off another dominant year in 2014 by winning his fifth New York marathon.
It was his third race in eight weeks after winning in Sydney and placing second in Chicago.
"I've had some good wins over the years but to be given the airplay to be able to be compared with some of the absolute mainstream sports with grassroots support behind them, I wouldn't have imagined I would have got a run with that," said Fearnley.
"It is nice to be pulled out from amongst a pretty heavy crowd to win an award which is kind of sport, kind of life, and about how you hold yourself."
Souths coach Michael Maguire said it was hard to explain what winning the NRL title meant to the club after so much hardship.
"Having the community that got behind us and obviously the players and their focus was required to achieve what we did," he said.
"It had been building for quite some time and there was a lot of effort that's been put in to achieving what we did in the 2014 grand final.
"All the hard work and the sweat and the tears that went into achieving something like this was well worth it."
AIS SPORTS PERFORMANCE AWARDS
* South Sydney Rabbitohs (sport performance of the year) - public vote
* Kurt Fearnley (sport personality of the year) - public vote
* Jess Fox (athlete of the year)
* Lisa Alexander (coach of the year)
* Amy Cure (junior athlete of the year)
* Australian men's hockey team (team of the year)
* Australian Para Rugby Team (para performance of the year)
* Damien Marangon and Kate Palmer - joint winners (leadership award)
* Wynyard Yacht Club (community club award)
* Bridie Galea (volunteer/administrator award)
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