2024 Steve Guback Sportsperson of the Year Award
The Virginia Sports Hall of Fame’s Steve Guback Sportsperson of the year Award recognizes an athlete, coach, team, administrator and/or individual who supports athletics, and who has distinguished themselves through outstanding athletic achievement during the 2024 calendar year.
VIRGINIA BEACH, VA – Coming off a spectacular 2024 that saw her reach the top of the medal stand at the NCAA Championships and the 2024 Summer Olympics, University of Virginia Swimming’s Gretchen Walsh has been selected as the recipient for the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame’s Steve Guback Sportsperson of the Year Award. The award recognizes an athlete, coach, team, administrator and/or individual who supports athletics, and has distinguished themselves through outstanding athletic achievement during the 2024 calendar year. The award will be presented as part of the 2025 Induction Ceremony, Saturday, April 26 at the Westin Hotel in Town Center of Virginia Beach.
Walsh was selected following an open nomination period, and through a vote combining the Hall’s Board of Directors, and the general public.
In 2024 while competing for UVA Swimming, Walsh won 7 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) championships, 7 NCAA Championships, and was named an All-American in 7 events. She helped lead the Cavaliers to their 4th consecutive team NCAA National Championship. Walsh concluded the meet with a perfect 7-for-7 first place finishes, including three individual NCAA records, one relay NCAA record, and pool records in all seven events.
Her excellence however did not stop when the academic year ended. Competing for Team U.S.A. as the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, Walsh would bring home four Olympic medals, two gold and two silver. She was a member of gold medal winning relay teams in the 4×100 medley relay and the 4×100 mixed medley relay and would win silver in the 100m butterfly and 4x100m freestyle relay.
“You would be hard pressed to find an athlete who had a better 2024 than Gretchen Walsh,” says Hall of Fame Chairman, Marty Miller. “The Hall is proud to honor her with the Sportsperson of the Year Award.”
The Sportsperson of the Year Award is named in honor of 2005 Virginia Sports Hall of Fame inductee, Steve Guback, who spent over 70 years in sports journalism.
More information about the award, and the 2025 Induction ceremony, can be found on the Hall’s website: https://vasportshof.com/2025-induction-weekend/
Past Recipients
About Steve Guback, Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, Class of 2005
Steve Guback spent 75 years covering sports on the local, regional, and national levels for publications in Virginia and Washington D.C. Writing primarily for the Richmond Times Dispatch, and Washington Star, Guback was named Virginia/District of Columbia Sportswriter three times, and served on the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee. A 1989 inductee into the U.S. Basketball Writers Hall of Fame, Guback served as director of information for President Ronald Reagan’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. Guback passed away in 2018 at the age of 91.
Learn more about Guback: https://vasportshof.com/inductee/steve-guback/