2018 Maccabi Australia Rudi Roth Sports Scholarship
Cyclist Riley Hart has been declared the winner of the 2018 Maccabi Australia Rudi Roth Sports Scholarship.
Riley Hart and Sonny Roth
2017 was a challenging year for Riley with a persistent knee injury and VCE. Regardless, he has achieved some excellent results over the last year, with the following highlights;
- Gold medal and under-19 Australian record at the 2017 Australian National Track Championships in Brisbane in the 4000m Team Pursuit.
- A win in the second Australian Junior Road World’s qualifying event, the Mersey Valley Tour. Riley scorched home in the stage one individual time trial to win from a stacked field of Australia and NZ’s top under-19 junior cyclists.
- Competing in the Elite category for the first time at the Victorian State Championships. His two rides in the individual pursuit, along with his qualifying ride gave him direct qualification to represent Victoria at 2018 Track Nationals. His ride of 4.29.234 was the fastest at states for over a decade.
- First Elite Gold Medal at 2018 Track National Championships in February as a member of the Victorian Team Pursuit. Victoria’s time of 3 minutes and 58.829 seconds secured Hart and his team a place in a select group of athletes who have ridden a sub-four-minute team pursuit.
Riley continues to focus on elite competition with the intention to compete in June/July 2018 in Europe. The scholarship will contribute to funding travel and accommodation for this 8-week stint of racing.
The Maccabi Australia Rudi Roth Sports Scholarship was established in 2015 to assist emerging athletes on the path to achieving at an elite level.
Previous Winners include:
2015
Lara Kaplan – Tennis
Ranked 3rd in NSW and 10th in Australia, and this year earned an International Tennis Federation world ranking.
2016
Alexandra Kiroi-Bogatyreva – Rhythmic Gymnastics
Double Bronze Medalist for Australia at the 2018 Commonwealth Games
2017 Marc Fridman – Snooker
Victorian U18 Champion 2018 (second year running)
Rudi’s nephew Sonny Roth continues to represent the Roth Family on the Maccabi Australia Selection Committee for the Rudi Roth Sports Scholarship Award. This year the Selection Committee has been impressed with the calibre of nominees and made their decision based not only on sporting achievement, but also where they felt that the scholarship would have the greatest impact.
Sonny, spoke of Rudi’s wish in establishing this award to genuinely assist an athlete on their journey to become elite. Sonny is “certain that Riley will continue to achieve in his sport of Cycling. We wish Riley the best of luck in perusing the next stage of his sporting career in Europe.”
Maccabi Australia is honoured to be able to present the 2018 scholarship to Riley and is extremely grateful to Rudi Roth and his family for making the award possible. Rudi had a long and wonderful history with Maccabi assisting emerging athletes on the path to achieving at an elite level. Originally born in Poland, Rudi came to Australia in 1933 as a toddler. Having overcome Rickets at age 12, Rudi had an illustrious squash career internationally and in NSW and Victoria.
