Three Olympians, an AFL player and journalist are the Ballarat Sports Hall of Fame's newest inductees.
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Bryan Thomas, late Margaret McIver, late Rodney Fox, Drew Petrie and late Jim Murphy were inducted at a Ballarat Sportsmen's Club dinner on Wednesday night.
Thomas was an Olympic kayaker, McIver an Olympic equestrian rider, Fox an Olympic kayaker, Drew Petrie a 300-game player with North Melbourne and Murphy a long-serving journalist with The Courier.
Thomas, McIver, Fox and Petrie were inducted as members, and Murphy as an associate.
This was the Hall of Fame's first induction ceremony since 2018.
They take its membership to almost 60 since being formed in the early 1990s by the Ballarat Sports Museum to recognise outstanding achievers throughout the city's history.
Thomas, who grew up and still lives in Ballarat, reached the pinnacle of his kayaking career when he competed at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul.
He finished fourth in the K4 1000m event.
He was a regular at Australian championships leading up to his Olympic selection, winning multiple K4 titles.
Thomas also competed in the 1987 world championships in Germany.
The Gordon-born McIver, who died in 2020 at the age of 86, spent her life involved with horses.
She competed at gymkhanas as a youngster and went on to be a well-known competitor at Royal Melbourne Show.
McIver earned a special place in equestion history when she became the first Australian to compete in dressage at an Olympic Games at Los Angeles in 1984.
She was also a founding member of the Victorian Dressage Club and Ballarat Polocrosse Club.
Among her many accolades, she was a Equestrian Australia life member.
Fox, who died at the age of 59 in 2005, reached Olympic status at Munich in 1972 in the K4 1000m.
He made his mark nationally as a kayakist and canoeist, winning various national titles over a variety of distances.
He represented Australia at the 1970 world championships as a prelude to the Olympics and went on to be a national coach for the 1985 world titles.
Petrie grew up and was educated in Ballarat.
He played his junior football with the Ballarat Swans before playing with North Ballarat Rebels in the statewide TAC Cup under-18 competition.
Petrie was picked up by North Melbourne in the 2000 AFL national draft with selection 23
He went on to play 316 games with the Kangaroos from 2001 to 2016, and another 16 games with West Coast eagles in 2017.
The key forward and part-time ruckman won North Melbourne's goalkicking multiple times.
He represented Australia three times in international rules encounters with Ireland and was named an all-Australian in 2011.
An AFL and North Melbourne life member, Petrie has spent the past four seasons as an assistant coach at West Coast.
Murphy, who died in 2009 at the age of 74, had a journalistic career spanning 35 years.
He started on a part-time basis with The Courier in 1963 covering football before securing the role of sports editor in 1969 - a position he filled for 30 years until his retirement.
Murphy was heavily involved in various sporting groups, including the Ballarat Sports Hall of Fame committee, and was instrumental in the formation of the Ballarat Sports Foundation for the benefit of all sports.
