23 August, 2012
By Candice Marshall
Four local athletes have been added to the Gold Coast Sporting Hall of Fame.
An official ceremony was held at Owen Park last night, celebrating the achievements of Sara Carrigan (cyclist), Loretta Harrop (triathlete), and canoeists Anna Wood and Katrin Borchert.
Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said the women are wonderful ambassadors for their sport and for the Gold Coast.
“There is an amazing wealth of sporting talent here on the Gold Coast, and with these latest inductions, we are celebrating four of our best and brightest sporting stars.
“I’d like to extend my congratulations to each of our sporting heroes. Your accomplishments are outstanding, and your achievements serve as an inspiration to a generation of young Gold Coast athletes.”
Sara Carrigan, who won a gold medal at the Athens Olympics, says it’s no surprise that the Gold Coast produces so many successful athletes.
She says the city was the perfect place to pursue her cycling career and is ideal for other sports too.
“For any other sport it’s a beautiful place to be because we have the facilities, or if we don’t have some of the facilities for some of the sports, we’re going to be improving those or upgrading those leading up to the Commonwealth Games.
“And it’s a beautiful community, it’s such a relaxed community, and that’s what helped me achieve what I did.
“I tell you what, it’s no accident the Gold Coast produces so many champions, it really is a sporting mecca and this is why it’s going to be fantastic that we’re holding the Commonwealth Games in 2018.”
Loretta Harrop, Athens Olympics triathlon silver medallist, says being inducted is fulfilling an ambition of hers.
She says she is honoured to be included.
“There’s been a whole bunch of great Gold Coasters inducted into the hall of fame and I guess I definitely feel like I’m a Gold Coaster, we’ve been here now since I got back from Athens just before 2004 and my kids go to school on the Gold Coast and I’m teaching at a private school on the Gold Coast, so it was definitely something that I would like to have been included in.”
