Photography: Sport Photography Winner

Phil Hillyard, News Limited, “Giving Your Best”

Phil Hillyard has won many national and international awards for his work, including being named Australian Press Photographer of the Year in 2001.

Now a photographer with The Daily Telegraph, he has covered a number of major assignments for News Limited’s group of papers including 10 cricket tours, two Olympic Games, two Commonwealth Games, soccer in South America and the tsunami in Sri Lanka.

His series shows Australian athletes giving their best in their chosen fields. This included the expression on the face of 400-metre sprinter John Steffensen winning gold at Melbourne’s Commonwealth Games to the looks of disappointment on Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne as they left the field for the last time after an Ashes series that went down to the bitter end.

Judges’ comments
Hillyard shows a mastery of technique across a range of difficult and diverse sports. He contrasts long-lens action with wide-lens emotion to convey his breadth of skill in this highly competitive, combative environment.