Awards

2017 Gordon award winner Will Swanton


Will Swanton of The Australian has won the 2017 Harry Gordon Australian Sports Journalist of the Year Award for his evocative sports writing.

The award was announced at the Melbourne Press Club’s annual Quill Awards dinner on Friday 16 March 2018. It recognises excellence in sports reporting across all media platforms and all sporting codes in Australia.

Harry Gordon – one of the greatest sports writers, war correspondents and newspaper editors of his generation – died in early 2015 at the age of 89.

The judges praised Swanton’s knack for capturing the ‘emotions and atmosphere’ of his subjects. “He has the ability to peel back the curtain and give us a back stage pass. He can look into a subject's eyes and tell us what is there…” they said.

The other 2017 finalists were Greg Baum of The Age and Grantlee Kieza of The Courier-Mail.

The judges for the award were Neil Mitchell (chair), Louise Evans and Garry Linnell.



The winning pieces

'The Original Golden Girl', The Australian, 8 August 2017

'No Fear', The Weekend Australian magazine, 2-3 September 2017

'Dream girl who scores runs in her sleep', The Weekend Australian, 9-10 December 2017

'The Golden Boy', The Weekend Australian magazine, 7-8 October 2017

'That's why the lady is a champ', The Weekend Australian, 25-26 February 2017

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