AS if an Olympic gold medal wasn’t special enough, Ryley Batt and his Australian Wheelchair Rugby team have claimed a prestigious award at the AIS Sports Performance Awards.

The ASPAs recognise Australia’s leading athletes, teams, coaches and administrators by celebrating their outstanding achievements.

An awards night was held on December 14 where Batt, who lives in Port Macquarie, and his team were given the high honour.

“It was funny because as a team I don’t think we thought we would get it. It was a great excuse to meet up with the team and catch up over the medal. It is such a prestigious sports award, so we are really happy,” he said.

“Our priority was to win the gold and that’s what we did, so we weren’t expecting any awards. It is definitely an icing on the cake.”

Batt said that, as a team, it was a good reminder of their hard work and achievements.

“Obviously it was really good to win the medal as a team and now the award win will keep reminding us of that,” he said.

“We all keep in touch as much as we can, but it’s hard because we’re so spread out. It was a great night.”

Batt has been busier then he would have liked after Rio, but 2017 has been described as a development year for the team.

“I’ve actually been pretty busy after Rio - much more busy than I expected,” he said. “But I’m keen to take a break now, spend some time on the family farm in Sydney and start training again after the New Year.

“We have the world championships in Sydney in 2018, which is a big focus for us.”