Jackie Fairweather's legacy to be honoured in ACT

By Chris Wilson
Updated April 23 2018 - 10:40pm, first published November 8 2014 - 4:08pm

A memorial service for world champion triathlete and marathon runner Jackie Fairweather will be held at Canberra's AIS Arena on Thursday at 11.30am, while the ACT government is looking at ways to honour her legacy to the ACT's sporting community. Australian sport reacted with shock and sadness to Fairweather's death last week, the 46-year-old having battled depression for years. Details are yet to be finalised but a ceremony at the AIS Arena on Thursday looks most likely. It would be an appropriate venue, given Fairweather was the AIS's inaugural triathlon coach, had continued to work at the Canberra campus as a high-performance manager and met her husband, Olympic Games gold medal archer Simon Fairweather, there. The AIS is hosting the "World Class to World Best" conference from Wednesday to Friday, which would enable many of the country's leading sports administrators to pay respect to a woman who had so much influence on Australian high-performance sport. ACT Sports Minister Shane Rattenbury, a long-time triathlete himself, has had informal discussions about a permanent memorial to Fairweather in Canberra, perhaps in the form of an event or popular running trail named in her honour. "A few people who've known Jackie have said we should do something to mark both her success as an athlete but also her contribution as a coach and mentor to so many people. I think it'd be quite appropriate," Rattenbury said. Any decision would be made in consultation with Fairweather's family, but popular running spots at Stromlo Forest, the Arboretum or Bruce Ridge would be considered. "She inspired a lot of people, so hopefully this would be another way of continuing to inspire people as well as a legacy for Jackie."

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