CANBERRA, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- The only Australian man to play at four FIFA World Cups, Tim Cahill, is among seven new inductees to the Sport Australia Hall of Fame (SAHOF).
The SAHOF announced on Wednesday the class of 2023 who will be inducted into the prestigious organization at its annual event on October 16.
Cahill will be joined by five fellow athletes - Olympic gold medallists Kim Brennan, Lydia Lassila and Nova Peris, Paralympic legend Kurt Fearnley and rugby league great Johnathan Thurston - as well as rowing coach Tim McLaren.
The only person to play for the Socceroos at four FIFA World Cup finals - 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018 - Cahill is the all-time leading goal-scorer for the men's national team, with 50 goals in 108 caps.
The 43-year-old, who was the first Australian to score in the World Cup and Asian Cup, said he was extremely honored to be inducted into the SAHOF.
"To be joining such an incredible group of athletes from across the history of Australian sport makes me feel both proud and grateful to all those who helped me in my career, especially my family," Cahill said in a media release.
Peris in 1996 became the first Aboriginal Australian to ever win an Olympic gold medal, doing so with the Hockeyroos, before switching to athletics and winning two golds at the 1998 Commonwealth Games.
She will be inducted alongside Brennan, a gold medallist at the 2016 Olympics, and aerial skiing Olympic champion Lassila.
A winner of 13 Paralympic medals, including three gold, in wheelchair racing, Fearnley in 2018 became the first athlete with a disability to win the SAHOF's The Don Award, which is given annually to the athlete who most inspired the nation. ■
