Australian Olympic middle-distance runner Peter Bol will be the guest speaker at the Wellington and Reeves Albany Sportsperson of the Year Awards, which take place at Retravision Stadium next week.
Perth-based Bol, who has represented Australia at the Olympics in Rio, Tokyo and Paris, will deliver the main address at Albany’s sporting occasion of the year on April 23.
The night of nights will celebrate the best of Albany’s sporting achievements in 2025, with nominees vying to be named the overall, senior, junior and masters winners.
Bol was one of the first athletes picked for the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games after claiming his fourth 800m Australian title since 2021 at the national championships in Sydney earlier this month.
He already has Commonwealth Games gold after triumphing in the 2022 event in Birmingham, and will hope to repeat the feat on UK soil in July.
His Olympic best was his fourth place at Tokyo 2020, and at 34 years old he probably just has Los Angeles 2028 on his calendar.
Drawing Bol to Albany is a coup for organisers, who have just closed nominations for the four categories.
Last year volleyball player Ryan Slater took out the Wellington and Reeves Albany sportsperson of the year title, with Muay Thai star Shawah Jin named the Castlehow senior sportsperson of the year.
Hockey player Ben Blechynden won the Retravision junior sportsperson of the year award, while Brett Hall was the Sound Life master sportsperson of the year.
All four sponsors have renewed their commitment to the awards this time around.
Last year’s categories garnered 36 nominations.
This year’s clutch have yet to be finalised but are said to be especially strong in the junior category.
They will be whittled down to a list of finalists in time for the big event.
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