Simoné Kruger threw left-handed and won everything.
The 21-year-old field para-athlete from Stellenbosch University claimed the Sportswoman of the Year with a Disability award at the 19th South African Sports Awards, held at the Sun City Superbowl on Saturday 19 August and presented by the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture. For South Africans who follow para-sport, the result confirmed what the world rankings already suggested: Kruger has become the country’s most decorated active para-athlete.
Born with cerebral palsy following a prenatal stroke, Kruger manages hemiplegia affecting the right side of her body. She competes as a discus and shot-put thrower and has adapted her technique entirely to throw left-handed. That adaptation has not slowed her. At the 2025 World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi, India, she successfully defended her F38 discus world title, a performance that significantly strengthened her candidacy for the national award. Her victory at the ceremony placed her ahead of fellow nominees sprinter Sheryl James and tennis player Kgothatso Montjane.
The accolades have accumulated rapidly. Just eleven days before the South African Sports Awards, Kruger received the Brand South Africa Para Sport Star of the Year award at the 2026 gsport Awards on Saturday 8 August. Her trophy cabinet also holds two awards from last year’s SA Sports Awards: Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability and Junior Sport Star of the Year. Within her university community, she has been named SU Sportswoman of the Year with a Disability for three consecutive years, a run that underscores her consistency as much as her headline results.
Meanwhile, she is doing all of this while completing a BSc in Sport Science at Stellenbosch University. Elite competition and formal study, simultaneously.
Maties Sport, the university’s athletics body, issued a statement following her national honour: “A huge congratulations to our very own Simoné Kruger on being crowned Sportswoman of the Year with a Disability at the South African Sport Awards. Simoné’s incredible talent, dedication and unwavering commitment continues to inspire. We are incredibly proud of you!”
Stellenbosch University also pointed to the broader significance of her journey. A social media post from the institution noted that her path from diagnosis to world-champion status represents a powerful narrative of overcoming physical adversity. “Born with cerebral palsy following a prenatal stroke, Kruger has overcome significant physical challenges to become a world champion,” the university stated.
The ceremony itself, held under the theme “Crowned in Greatness,” marked 19 years of honouring South African athletic achievement. Olympic sprinter Akani Simbine received the Sport Star of the Year award, while the Protea men’s test cricket team was named Team of the Year. The evening brought together recognition of established excellence and rising stars across multiple sporting disciplines and classifications.
For Kruger, the question now is what a third world title defence looks like, and whether the domestic awards circuit can keep pace with what she produces on the field.