A new national award to be presented next month in Sydney will shine a spotlight on Australian sportsmanship.
Sport Australia launched the award on Monday to highlight athletes who have upheld the pillars of integrity, fair play and role-model behaviour in 2018.
"Australians love to win and we rightfully celebrate these victories," Sport Australia chair John Wylie said.
"But success in sport can be measured far more broadly than by who claims the gold medal or who hoists the trophy at the end of a tournament."
Kookaburras captain Mark Knowles, wheelchair racer Kurt Fearnley, Paralympic snowboarder Joany Badenhorst and the long-distance running trio of Celia Sullohern, Madeline Hills and Eloise Wellings were selected as the four finalists.
Australia's Commonwealth Games flagbearer Knowles was nominated for his selflessness after dropping back to march alongside his fellow athletes, while Fearnley's sign-off marathon win on the Gold Coast didn't go unnoticed.
Sullohern, Hills and Wellings were commended for waiting and cheering on last-placed Commonwealth Games 10,000m competitor Lineo Chaka at the finish line five minutes after the race was won.
Snowboarder Badenhorst was singled out for overcoming heartbreak to support the Paralympic team after a training crash ruled her out two days before her event in PyeongChang.
Wylie said whittling down the nominees to four was difficult with countless acts of sportsmanship on display.
"It has been tough to contain this to four finalists, which is a fantastic representation of the role model behaviours Australians can see in sport," he said.
The inaugural Sport Australia honour will be presented at the AIS Sport Performance Awards on December 13.
