The announcement was made during the Australia Day ceremony at the Goulburn Historic Waterworks on Saturday, January 26.

READ ALSO:

Ryan reflected on her final bowl which gave her and teammate Kristina Krstic gold in the women's pairs.

"I'm pretty good under pressure and I tried to stay nice and calm," Ryan said.

"It wasn't an easy shot, but it was what I'd been practicing for the last 15 years.

"On the last day of my official practice, my coach actually told me bowl the jack to win the gold medal.

"Ten days later, that's what happened."

Growing up, Ryan played many sports, but ultimately, decided to choose lawn bowls because she thought it was unique and got pretty good at it.

"I was playing Thursday twilight bowls which was cool because I could win money," she said.

"I stashed that away from my sister so she couldn't pinch it off me.

"Eventually I bought my first car, but the money definitely wasn't the reason I stayed with it.

"I love representing Australia and being able to travel."

The other sporting award was the Junior Sportsperson of the Year which was won by Joshua Kalozi for his achievements in athletics and long jump.

He was selected to represent Australia in the u18s at the Oceania Championships in 2022 where he broke the 110m hurdles record and won a gold medal.

He is third in the current world athletics rankings.

Cyclist Elsie Apps and formula racing driver Costa Toparis were named the highly commended athletes.

Elsie was the Australian champion in the National Road Titles and was a gold medallist in the NSW State Championships while Costa recently joined Carlin, one of the world's premier driving teams outside of Formula One.

Did you know the Goulburn Post is now offering breaking news alerts and a weekly email newsletter? Keep up-to-date with all the local news: sign up below.