Skateboarder Kieran Woolley has been named as a finalist for the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Sport Performance Awards (ASPA) Male Athlete of the Year.
His outstanding season started in April when he won silver on his debut at the X Games Chiba Men's Park Finals in Japan. Woolley then went on to compete in the X Games Summer Men's Skateboard Park competition in California, where he took home gold at the Summer Men's Park event.
On top of competing Woolley also joined the Monster Energy European Tour with the likes of Nyjah Huston, Ishod Wair and Grant Taylor. From early May to September Woolley travelled throughout Europe on an old-school street skateboarding tour, bringing together local skateboarders to show off their best tricks and bring the community together.
This was all following his Olympic debut in Tokyo where he made an immediate impact, posting the second-highest score in qualifying to progress to the final and stun the skateboarding world in the process. Woolley wrapped up his Tokyo experience by finishing in 5th place.
Woolley said he was honoured to be announced as an AIS ASPAs finalist.
"It is a huge honour to be selected as a finalist, I’m up against a bunch of extremely talented athletes and I’m just stoked to have my name in the mix," he said.
Woolley’s manager Corbin Harris, Partner at The Familie Agency & Former Professional Skateboarder, said he is proud of Woolley's development as an athlete and a person over the past year, saying “something has clicked within Kieran.”
“I’ve seen this with professional skateboarders over the years when it clicks and they are able to do whatever they want at any moment on a skateboard,” Harris said.
“It’s a special time and I’m really excited to see what he is able to achieve, both competitively and creatively. I believe he has the focus and ability to see this wild ride to the absolute end.”
Australian Sports Commission CEO Kieren Perkins OAM congratulated the ASPA finalists across the 12 award categories, who will be honoured at a ceremony in Sydney on Thursday, December 15.
“The ASPAs is a true celebration of Australian high performance sport and the fact we have more than 20 different sports represented across the award categories is a reminder of how many wonderful moments we’ve experienced this year,” Mr Perkins said.
“It has been a brilliant way to kick-start our green and gold decade towards Brisbane 2032 and I look forward to celebrating with all our finalists and friends across sport next month.”
Woolley has already been awarded the 2022 Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship and voted as the 2022 New Gen of the Year in the Skater of the Year Awards by Australian Slam Magazine.