Tournament MVP as Australia claimed the wheelchair basketball world championship. Six world titles and a world record in a single season. Two world records on a Commonwealth Games debut. Meet this year’s finalists, Jaylen Brown, Tahlia Clayton-Goodie and Tara Neyland.
The Para Athlete Award recognises the Para athlete who has achieved outstanding sporting results during the year, complemented by success in other areas of their life.
Jaylen Brown, Wheelchair Basketball
Warrnambool’s Jaylen Brown grew up in basketball stadiums watching his mum from the sidelines. Today he is a Paralympian, world champion and tournament MVP.
Born with proximal femoral focal deficiency, Brown had his right leg amputated when he was two. His passion for wheelchair basketball was sparked when he saw the sport being played on the court opposite where his mum was training, and he went on to make his Paralympic debut at Paris 2024.
In 2025 he co-captained Australia at the U23 Men’s IWBF World Championships, topping the scoring charts, then was named MVP at the Men’s Asia Oceania Championships. At the 2026 IWBF World Championships he averaged 30 points per game, including 37 points in a one-point overtime semi-final win over Germany, as Australia won the world championship and he was named tournament MVP. At professional level, he powered Turkish club Besiktas to the EuroCup 3 championship.
Off the court, Brown coaches young players through the Ford Aussie Hoops program and is involved in school and community clinics through the Red Dust Heelers. Brown is also nominated for the Carbine Club Rising Star Award and the Award of Excellence.
Tahlia Clayton-Goodie, Cycling
After a serious mountain bike accident in 2011 left her with hemiparesis affecting the right side of her body, Tahlia Clayton-Goodie rebuilt her sporting ambitions. She has since become a multiple world champion and world record holder.
Her breakthrough came at the 2025 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships, where she won both the Women’s C1 Road Race and Time Trial. Weeks later she won four more world titles at the Track World Championships, in the C1 Sprint, Scratch Race, Elimination Race and 1km Time Trial, setting a world record in the 1km Time Trial. In 2026 she successfully defended her C1 Time Trial world title in Huntsville, Alabama, and added silver in the Road Race.
Off the bike, Clayton-Goodie is a mother of two who travels from Geelong to Melbourne for training, and previously served as a police officer. In 2026 she began a Bachelor of Exercise and Sports Science at Charles Sturt University. She is a Thrive with Pride ambassador and a participant in the VIS Leadership Program.
Tara Neyland, Cycling
In 2023, Tara Neyland was diagnosed with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, a progressive neuromuscular condition. Rather than let it define her, she turned to Para cycling, and within a year of starting had become one of the world’s leading riders in the Women’s C4 classification.
At her first World Championships in 2025, Neyland won both the C4 Time Trial and Road Race. Weeks later at the Track World Championships in Rio de Janeiro she added three more titles, in the C4 Elimination, Scratch Race and 1km Time Trial, for five world titles in one season.
In 2026 she made her Commonwealth Games debut in Glasgow, winning gold in the Women’s C4-C5 4000m Individual Pursuit in a world record 4:49.648, then gold in the Women’s C4-C5 1km Time Trial, again in world record time. She also won both C4 events at Round 2 of the UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup in Belgium, and two silver medals at the 2026 Road World Championships.
Outside sport, Neyland has built a career as an osteopath. Before Para cycling, she competed in swimming, triathlon and road, gravel, cyclocross and mountain biking. In 2026 she was jointly named Elite Sportsperson of the Year at the Victorian Disability Sport & Recreation Awards.
The winner will be announced at the 2026 VIS Award of Excellence at Marvel Stadium on Tuesday 17 November. Follow VIS channels (@vicinstsport) to stay up to date with the evening.
