Live-streamed on Facebook and YouTube for the first time due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, five Tasmanians were nominated for their respective awards but the island state came home empty handed.

King Island's Stewart McSweyn, who enjoyed a bumper 2019 season across several distances was pipped at the post by high-jumper and last year's winner Brandon Starc, as the Tasmanian representative up for the country's highest honour.

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McSweyn, 25, broke the Australian indoor 1500 metre record in February of 2019 before backing it up by taking the 10,000m honour with him too.

Strong performances at the world championships in Doha, making the final of the 5000m and semis of the 1500m finished his season before putting together a charge towards the Olympics alongside coach Nic Badeau who was also unsuccessful in his award pursuit.

Both Sam Clifford and his coach, Gary Armstrong, were unable to claim the top gongs in their respective sections with the 18-year-old Legana middle distance runner beaten by decathlete Ash Moloney while Penny Gillies claimed the junior coach of the year award.

Launceston's Sandra Speers and Hobart's Rosemary Coleman were among the nine nominees for the official of the year award which was won by South Australian world race judge panellist Zoe Eastwood-Bryson.

There was some success for the Tasmanian connections, however, with North-West middle distance runner Deon Kenzie's coach Philo Saunders taking out the para athlete coach of the year award.

Saunders, who resides in the Northern Territory, also trains Jaryd Clifford and Michael Roeger, who both claimed medals alongside Kenzie at Dubai's 2019 world championships.

"Dion has been killing it in training this year and he's going to be right in the mix for this gold medal [at the 2021 Paralympics] and I know he wants it pretty badly to get a Paralympics gold medal," Saunders said.