Journalist Tracey Holmes from Australia’s national broadcaster the ABC has won first place in the Audio category at the AIPS Awards for her coverage of Afghanistan’s women athletes.

The 2021 awards were presented by the International Sports Press Association (AIPS) in Doha on 12 June.

Holmes’ winning report for the ABC News podcast The Ticket covered the plight of Afghan women athletes who were left in danger after the Allied Forces withdrew from Kabul in 2021. Her report led to a group of Australians mounting an international rescue mission.

The AIPS said Holmes had not just created a stunning audio piece but had managed to set up the rescue mission and had done it all while being in hotel quarantine after coming back from the Tokyo Olympics.

The ABC’s Director, News, Justin Stevens said: “This award is well-deserved international recognition of Tracey’s talent and dedication and, particularly, her expertise in the area of sports reporting.

“Tracey is one of Australia’s finest and most accomplished journalists and what she achieved with this reporting is testament to that. It is simply a great piece of storytelling.”