Courtesy commonwealthgames.com.au

Four-time Commonwealth Games medalist Valerie Beddoe AM is one of four four Life Members to be conferred at the Commonwealth Games Australia (CGA) Annual General Meeting today.

To be joined in the prestigious club by nine-time gold medalist Petria Thomas OAM, seven-time team physiotherapist Peter Duras and former Chief Medical Officer Dr Peter Harcourt OAM, the quartet take the honour roll to 32 people.

CGA President Ben Houston congratulated the four new Life Members for their contribution and service to the Commonwealth Games movement in Australia.

"Life membership is conferred upon those who have provided significant service and contribution to the Commonwealth Sport movement in Australia, and I congratulate our latest inductees on this honour," Houston said.

“This recognition provides CGA with a chance to celebrate the rich history. Each of the 32 members are well deserving and exemplary in their field of service.”

The induction of Life Members today follows the announcement of Birmingham 2022 diving gold medallist Charli Petrov as the inaugural Emerging Athlete of the Year at the President’s Dinner last night.

Petrov was the youngest member of the Australian team and won gold alongside idol Melissa Wu at Birmingham 2022, bolstering her nomination with a further two gold medals at the 2022 FINA World Junior Diving Championships.

“I always want to achieve something great in sport… and couldn’t achieve that without the support of my family, my coaching team, the VIS, and Diving Australia,” Petrov said.

Victoria 2026 “will be such an amazing experience to represent the green and gold in front of a home crowd.”

A celebration of the next generation of Commonwealth Games heroes, the Emerging Athlete of the Year Award was introduced by CGA to pay homage to those young athletes that inspire through their performance and community contribution.

The Emerging Athlete of the Year was nominated to the CGA Board by the Heritage and Awards Committee after being selected from the cohort of monthly winners announced across 2022.