All Media: Sport Feature Winners

Ben Cheshire, Jessica Daly, Kristine Taylor, Australian Story, ABC TV, “One Perfect Day”

When the Australian women’s cycling team was mown down by a car in Germany in July 2005, every media outlet in Australia wanted the story. Australian Story was entrusted with the delicate details of the tragic accident and followed the five injured cyclists and their coach over many months, documenting the progress of their recovery. Filming commenced a few weeks after
the crash and continued right up until the program went to air in February 2006.

While the story rammed home the dangers of race riding, it also proved that something like this could happen to anyone – even Olympic athletes. Ultimately, it summarised the grit, determination and resilience of the cyclists and their coach to continue on.

Ben Cheshire started as a cadet journalist with ABC News in Adelaide in 1979. He has since worked on programs including Australia’s Most Wanted, Countrywide and The 7.30 Report before joining Australian Story in 1996. This is his second
Walkley.

Jessica Daly has worked for the ABC in various regions around Queensland. She joined Australian Story in 2005 as the program’s first broadband producer.

Kristine Taylor has been a researcher on Australian Story for six years, working on many of the program’s most memorable, controversial and exclusive stories, including the program on the then governor-general, Dr Peter Hollingworth, and its 2005 follow-up which won a Walkley and Logie that year.

Judges’ comments
There wasn’t one journalist in Australia who wouldn’t have wanted to get the full story of the Australian women’s cycling team. This was the first time the coach and women had spoken – it was a good get. Their tragedy was portrayed in a holistic and sensitive way and demonstrated the huge effort in getting them to talk. The tyranny of time did not lessen the impact of the story, which was still strong when it went to air many months after the accident.