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Gold, silver and bronze fern
All-comers finished in the green and gold shadow of Australia, but New Zealand completed a successful Commonwealth Games campaign, finishing a credible 5th on the medal table, with 11 golds in rugby sevens, cycling (Sarah Ulmer above), discus, shooting, table tennis, weightlifting, squash and bowls and many notable placings: the Silver Ferns took silver in one of the match-ups of the games - an epic, extraordinary, heart-breaking, extra-time, sudden death loss to arch-rivals Australia.
(July/August 2002) 

Everest celebrations
Sir Edmund Hillary's 54-year old son Peter will attempt to ascend Mount Everest this month, as Nepal approaches 50th anniversary celebrations of Everest's first successful ascent in 1953.
(10 February 2002)
          

One Love
Anna Kournikova, "the tennis temptress whose courtships tend to garner more attention than her shot selection", completes her 99th WTA tour singles event - the Auckland Classic - in the same way she ended the previous 98. She loses. With a sense of the occasion Auckland's tennis director Richard Palmer remarks, "This is a huge day for the tournament and the sporting public of New Zealand". 
(8 January 2002)  
           

Riding High
Kiwi wonder-kid jockey Michael Walker rides  for Aussie trainer Lee Freedman at the Anniversary Cup in Queensland.
(17 July 2001)
              

Smiling Like
Smiling Like is apprentice Michael Walker's lucky horse. The Wellington Cup was her second victory with the "boom" New Zealander in the saddle.
(28 January 2001)
             

Iron birthday suits
"It was my destiny to win today," said birthday boy Kiwi Bryan Rhodes after his record-breaking 8hrs 41:53 win in the Malaysian Ironman Triathlon.
(29 January 2001)
             

Eco-racing comes home
Top eco-racing teams have registered for October's South Island race, including New Zealand's Team Fairydown. "New Zealand, being the birth place of Expedition Racing, is the perfect location for the top teams in the world to experience the race of a lifetime," says Eco-racing founder Mark Burnett.
(23 January 2001)
           

Sunshine for Sunline
It's official - Sunline is the Russell Crowe of the racing world. The New Zealand and Australian horse of the year, Kiwi Sunline is also Australasia's biggest money winner. After her December 17 Hong Kong mile win she reigns undisputed: world's top mare.
(18 December 2000)
          

Resolute squash
Ireland's "cultural aspects" have drawn New Zealander Andrew Flemming away from exercise, but regular squash is on his New Year's resolution list.
(27 December 2000)
             

1953 - Hillary's year
"It was also a year in which a white man and a brown man, held together by a light nylon rope, climbed the highest mountain. In this feat of the New Zealand beekeeper, Edmund Hillary, and the sinewy Sherpa tribesman, Tenzing, millions down in the mundane valleys felt a vicarious exhilaration--the reminder that by valor and dedication man may surmount his Everests."
(December 2000)
             

Because it's 50 years
June 2002 will see Nepal begin year-long celebrations marking a half century since Tensing and Hillary knocked the bugger off.
(27 November 2000)
 

Special league
The New Zealand team "ran out of juice" in the final, according to Frank Endacott, but they received praise from England's coach for their semi-final performance: "I thought New Zealand were a bit special," said John Kear.
(18 November 2000)
               

Southern travail 
"The temperature will drop as low as minus 10 degrees, waves will be as high as 4 meters and the wind will be as strong as 40 knots." None of which deterred winning home team Propeller Heads, who completed the  Southern Traverse Adventure Race in 96 hours.
(17 November 2000)
           

Speed + power = KO
That's the equation chalked on Kiwi David Tua's wall as the build up to the Tua-Lewis fight continues. In this interview Tua promises to put that equation into practice. He also talks about the importance of home: "People are moving away from their roots and that's bad... Samoa is where my heart is".
(8 October 2000)

Sport of Kiwis
New Zealand beat South Africa 11-10 after withstanding an onslaught in the final chukka, to win the BMW polo series 2-0 in Durban. They won the first test 10-8 and showed the benefit of professional experience, including having top-rated player Cody Forsythe (an eight goals handicap player) flown in 24hrs before the first test.
(1 August 2000)
                 

Cycling Gold
New Zealand won two gold medals in the fifth and final leg of the Track World Cup Cycling Championship. Glen Thompson won in the 30km points race and Sarah Ulmer continued her superb Olympic preparation.
(14 August 2000) 
          

Kiwi behind the scenes racing legend 
"She is perfect and I think most people agree." Efficiency, accuracy, reliability and above all loyalty are the words the Sydney Morning Herald uses to describe Sue Hutchinson, the first female to hold the position of assistant clerk of the scales and assistant racing manager at the Australian Jockey Club.
(10 July 2000) 
          

Wilson picked in All-Star Futures Game
Kiwi baseball player Travis Wilson, who is a rookie with the Atlanta Braves, has been selected to play in the US vs the World All-Star Futures Game - a strong indication that he's on track to make the Major League.
(15 June 2000)
           

World set to discover the rigours of the Southern Traverse 
"One of the world's most prestigious adventure races, and the cornerstone of global media company announce a new partnership in adventure racing.  Discovery Channel will be the exclusive media sponsor of the Southern Traverse (New Zealand), producing a four-hour prime time mini-series, documenting the real-life human drama of adventure racing. The race will be viewed around the world in 149 countries."
(8 June 2000)

Tua terminates Sullivan in Tysonesque power show
"Even Mike Tyson would have been impressed. Fighting with the savage explosiveness of the former champion, David Tua needed only 51 seconds to stop Obed Sullivan and firmly establish himself as the heavyweight division's leading challenger."
(6 June 2000)

Who says sport and politics don't mix?
US Senate Candidate John Ensign revived former UNLV basketball star Mark Dickel when the player struck his head during a pick-up game and went into convulsions. Dickel, from New Zealand, an honourable mention All-American point guard, was the nation's leader in assists last season.
(17 May 2000)

Without a fault, World Champ wins
Blyth Tait of New zealand, the reigning world and Olympic champion, rode Welton Envoy to a faultless round over all 16 fences to win the Rolex-Kentucky Horse Trails.
(1 May 2000)
              

Tua to Lewis: "It's time to face the music"
"The fans need to see David Tua destroy Lennox Lewis. He's tailor-made for me.  I Respect what he's accomplished, but I believe I have the style to knock Lennox Lewis out"
(5 May 2000)  
     

Chopper challenge 
Mount Cook National Park is to host the 2008 World Heli Challenge over two weeks in August. After a six-year hiatus the competition, deemed the most legendary freeriding and freeskiing event on the planet, has returned to the South Island. The World Heli Challenge includes three days of helicopter-accessed competition during which the Big Mountain, Backcountry Freestyle and Downhill heats will take place. Thousands of people will gather in Wanaka to celebrate the two-week competition finale at the 'Afterburner Party'. "Quite simply the world's most unique and captivatingly exclusive snow event around, the World Heli Challenge is not to be missed!" The Challenge runs from August 9 through 24. 
(25 March 2008)

Beckham fever hits Wellington 
David Beckham's Australasian tour with the LA Galaxy was a resounding success for NZ soccer. A record crowd of 31,853 turned up to see the Galaxy play newly minted NZ side the Wellington Phoenix at the city's Westpac Stadium. The Galaxy won the match 4-1, with Beckham scoring one of the goals from the penalty spot. The English star was taken with Wellington, despite his brief stay. "Even flying in on the first day was incredible - to see the sights, to see the country, was incredible," he said. "I wish I could've seen more of it, but maybe I can come back with the kids one day." Galaxy team-mate Landon Donovan had high praise for the Wellington crowd: "The crowd was probably better here [than Sydney], as far as being loud, cheering and being supportive. Sydney was a bit tamer. I liked it better here." 
(3 December 2007)

Painful memories 

Trans-Tasman netball goes semi-professional 
A new trans-Tasman netball tournament will be launched in April next year, bringing together five teams each from NZ and Australia. The Tasman Trophy has secured ANZ Bank as its naming rights sponsor, and will screen on Fox Sport in Australia and Sky TV in NZ. The annual tournament will run from April to July and feature 69 games in total. "It's a really exciting point in time," said veteran Australian captain Liz Ellis, who has long agitated for higher pay for women in sport. "There's talk of it being semi-professional; if things are done well, I think the product itself is so good it has to become fully professional sooner rather than later." The Tasman Trophy has a total operating budget of around AU$20 million, with each player set to earn an average of AU$20,000 in its first year. 
(10 October 2007)

Car-boot camaraderie 
With its own spring carnival brought down by horse flu, the Sydney Morning Herald sent writer Rachel Oakes-Ash across the Tasman to check out NZ's racing season. Oakes-Ash headed south for the Christchurch Casino Cup and Show Week, where she attended the traditional car-boot picnic party held on the final day of racing. "Auckland may have its birdcage, champagne lawn and fabulous fillies in frocks," she writes, "but Riccarton Park is more country picnic race, complete with open-armed hospitality, where everything's a laugh and pretension is checked in at the door." 
(30 September 2007)

Fifth win for Warriner 

Mason wins at Raglan 
NZ surfer Airini Mason has scored her second Billabong Pro Junior Series title for 2007 by winning the girls' division of the $13,000 Raglan leg. The 18-year-old beat pre-event ratings leader Sally Fitzgibbons (Gerroa, NSW) in the semi-final before defeating Ashleigh Smith (Cabarita, NSW) by 16.75 to 12.40 in the final. "I just had so much fun in that final," said Mason. "I was lucky that those two bomb waves came my way and I'm really happy to win here in NZ. It's so good to get a first place, it is the best place in the world." Mason moved from Gisborne to Australia's Gold Coast two years ago. In 2006 she became the first NZ female to win the Australasian Junior Series, at just 16 years of age. She is now top of the Pro Junior girls' leader-board, with just four events remaining in the series. 
(1 April 2007)

Home soil advantage 
NZ has been named the new host of the 2007 world netball championships, after Fiji lost the rights following its recent military coup. The event has been moved from July to November to allow NZ time to prepare. "After due deliberation, International Federation of Netball Associations concluded that transferring the event to another country within the same region, in the same year, was preferable to postponing the event to 2008 and have therefore decided to accept Netball New Zealand's offer," said IFNA president Molly Rhone. NZ's Silver Ferns are hot favourites to win the championships, which will be held in either Auckland or Christchurch. 
(22 December 2006)

World descends on Rotorua
Rotorua's Mt Ngongotaha played host to the UCI World Mountain Bike Championships from August 23-27, the first time the event has been held in the southern hemisphere in ten years. The Rotorua cycling community had campaigned for five years and suffered three unsuccessful bids before finally convincing Union Cycliste Internationale they were up to the challenge. Dirt Rag magazine was suitably impressed with NZ efforts: "NZers are not afraid to construct structures to help their tramping or cycling tracks traverse wet or sensitive areas or simply to add interesting features. My jaw dropped in awe when I saw the 80 meter boardwalk section built especially for the lower portion of the downhill course. The boardwalk twisted and turned like a ribbon unrolled down the mountain." 
(14 August 2006)

Rowing world comes to Waikato
NZ has secured the hosting rights for the 2010 World Rowing Championships. The event will be held at Lake Karapiro in Cambridge, Waikato, with Hamilton acting as the official host city. Lake Karapiro previously hosted the championships in 1978. According to Rowing NZ CEO Craig Ross, the event is expected to inject more than $105 million into the NZ economy. "It's the biggest thing for rowing - for past rowers and for present rowers," says world champ Caroline Evers-Swindell.
(8 June 2006)

Next stop Commonwealth Games 
NZ won the New South Wales 100m Relay Championship at Sydney Olympic Park on November 19, breaking a NZ national record in the process. Led by Olympic representative Chris Donaldson, the winning team also included Dallas Roberts, David Falealilli and James Dolphin. The team's time of 38.99 broke both the previous NZ record of 39.25 (set by the same four runners two years ago) and the NSW record of 39.89. "We didn't change too well in the heat but got it together in the final," says Donaldson. "That was good enough for a Commonwealth Games final and we now hope to show a clean pair of heels to other runners in Melbourne." 
(19 November 2005)

Sugarfoot speaks up 
In a sports-mad country like NZ, how can one of its richest and most successful exponents be virtually unknown? Kickboxer Ray "Sugarfoot" Sefo has quietly earned more than $10 million from the sport and is a bona fide star in Japan and the US. He holds five world title belts and has just signed a US$1 million a year three-year deal with K-1, the kickboxing's premiere fighting circuit. As is apparent in an interview with the Sunday Star Times, Sefo is keen to publicise himself and, more importantly, his sport of choice in his home country. He has established the Ray Sefo Academy in Auckland and is pleased with the growing recognition for the sport: "It makes me happy inside to see that, when for so long we have tried to push the sport and educate the public, and finally, it is recognised as what it is today - it's awesome."
(October 2005)

Wundercoach
Richard Tonks has been named 2005 FISA Coach of the Year by the International Rowing Federation. Tonks, himself a silver medallist for NZ at the 1972 Munich Olympics, is the man behind a spate of recent rowing successes for the national team, including four gold medals at this year’s World Rowing Championships, the Evers-Swindell sisters’ Olympic gold medal in Athens and World Championship golds in 2003 and 2002, and Rob Waddell’s Sydney Olympic medal in 2000 and two World Championship titles in 1999 and 1998.
(25 October 2005)
   

Wilding at heart (1)
Roger Federer became the eighth player in Wimbledon championship history to win three consecutive men's singles titles. Federer joins William Renshaw, the Doherty brothers: Reggie and Laurie, New Zealander Anthony Wilding, Fred Perry, Bjorn Borg and Pete Sampras to have won the singles title three years in a row. Meanwhile the University of Canterbury Press has published the biography of Anthony Wilding written by Christchurch historians Len and Shelley Richardson. Anthony Wilding: A Sporting Life tells the story of one of our greatest sporting champions. Wilding won the Wimbledon men’s lawn tennis title in 1910 and remains the only New Zealander to have done so. In the years that remained before the Great War, he dominated the international tennis world by defending his Wimbledon title at three successive championships. In 1913 he won world titles on clay, grass and wood, and was thought invincible. The handsome, athletic New Zealander, given to motorcycling around Europe, became the matinee idol of a sport keen to widen its popular appeal, until his death in a bombardment that took place near Neuve Chapelle in Belgium in 1915. (7 July 2005)

Hat-trick plus one
"Not only do Kiwis like winning our major horse race, they are also becoming fond of winning our major car race." Greg Murphy took top honours for Holden with his fourth Bathurst victory at Mt Panorama. He now ranks sixth on the all-time winners' list behind legends Peter Brock, Jim Richards and Larry Perkins.
(11 October 2004)

Rhodes beats the heat
Brian Rhodes won the men’s open category of the Desaru International Triathlon in sweltering Malaysian conditions, beating last year’s winner Jason Shortis of Australia by nearly five minutes. Fellow Kiwi Stephen Sheldrake finished third. The annual event comprises a 2km swim, 90km cycle and 21km run.
(19 September 2004)
    

Pure gold
NZ’s Olympic team kept viewers at home on tenterhooks, waiting until the second week of the Games to begin the medal haul. Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell took gold in the double sculls rowing, Sarah Ulmer beat her own world record (twice) to take gold in the 3000m individual cycling pursuit, 2003 World Champion Ben Fouhy won silver in the K1 1,000m canoeing, and Hamish Carter and Bevan Docherty won gold and silver respectively in the men’s triathlon. The triathlon victory was NZ’s first one-two finish at the Olympics since 1996. “I didn't come away with gold but who better to lose to than my teammate Hamish,” said Docherty, the reigning Triathlon World Champion. “We were fantastic, both of us. Hamish had a fantastic day and he deserved the gold.”
(August 2004)
 

Top 6 for Black Sticks
The NZ women’s hockey team’s strong showing at the Athens Olympics earned them the final place in November’s six-team Champions Trophy in Argentina. The Black Sticks went to Athens ranked ninth in the world and finished in sixth position.
(24 August 2004)
   

Ferns end 15-year drought
The Silver Ferns crushed traditional rivals Australia in a historic 3-0 series win - their first clean sweep against Australia since 1989. The Ferns won the final match 53-46, after trailing for much of the game. Australian shooter Cynna Neele: "You never want to lose to the Kiwis once, let alone three times in a row."
(7 July 2004)
   

Jack Foster, 71
Legendary marathoner Jack Foster died after a cycling accident south of Rotorua. He was the marathon silver medallist at the 1974 Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, where he set his personal best time at the age of 41.
(6 June 2004)

Ulmer, Henderson, cycle to victory. 
New Zealand cyclist Sarah Ulmer took control of the hotly contested 300m individual pursuit when she broke the world record by two 10ths of a second in 3:31.157, to win the World Championship. Gary Henderson also won gold in the 15km scratch race. In other sports news, NZ Sevens win 5th world series crown, Black Caps bow 3-nil to England, and the All Whites crash out of 2006 World Cup contention.
(2004)

Stars in the making
NZ athletes contributed to an international domination of America’s National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Indoor Championships in mid-March. Kim Smith – running for Providence - lapped all but one of her competitors in the 5,000m, breaking a collegiate record which had held for 13 years. Rising star Nick Willis - who represents NZ at this year's Olympic Games in Athens - was the driving force behind the University of Michigan’s record-breaking win in the men’s distance medley relay.
(13 March 2004)
  

Catch me if you can Merriman
NZer Stefan Merriman won the 250cc two-stroke class riding for Australia at the 2003 International Six Days' Enduro in Fortaleza, Brazil. "The three-time world champion was an intimidating force on his Honda CRE250 two-stroke machine, easily outpointing Frenchman Arnaud Demeester to win his intra-class battle and overall honours. 
(3 November 2003)
    

Natural high
Sydney Morning Herald journo-cum-adventurer recommends NZ as the perfect training ground for would-be mountaineers: “It's close, cheap, the inhabitants speak English, and the mountains are world-class.” Particularly highly regarded is the NZ Mountain Safety Council’s 2-day advanced snowcraft course (NZ$120). A non-profit, volunteer-run organization, the MSC was established in 1966 “to encourage the enjoyment of the mountains, and to promote safety through more effective techniques, responsible attitudes and sound judgement.”
(6 September 2003)

One of our originals
NZ's oldest Olympic athlete, javelin thrower Stan Lay, has died aged 96. Lay finished in seventh place at the 1924 Athens Olympics, and two years later won gold at the Empire Games in Canada. He was a 12-time NZ javelin champion.
(13 May 2003)
   

The woman with the whistle
Kirstin Daly has been made the first woman in Australasia to coach a men's basketball team at national level. The former NZ women's captain is to take the helm at Hawke's Bay. Says club management; "[The players] have practised under her during the pre-season and while we were holding back, wondering if this was the right move, they were urging us to run with it."
(5 March 2003)
   

Sir Ed reflects
Sir Edmund Hillary is celebrating the 50th anniversary of his Everest climb with a round of fundraising for The Himalaya Trust. "When I look back over my life, I have little doubt that the most worthwhile things I have done have not been standing on the summits of mountains or the North and South Poles, great adventures though they were. My most important projects have been the building and maintaining of schools and medical clinics for my good friends in the Himalayas."
(17 February 2003)
     

Running man
Lower Hutt born Nick Willis is the University of Michigan's latest star athlete. Still in his freshman year, he is already the No. 2 cross-country runner on campus. The best seems yet to come; according to local sports-writers "track is where the 4-minute 2-second miler will make the most noise." Nick took an athletics scholarship to the university this year and hopes to be accepted for its prestigious business school.
(14 October 2002)
       

"It's all about that fern"
The Cinderalla New Zealand Tall Black's sensational hoop dreams soared as they hustled and impressed their way into the semi finals of World Championships (Indianapolis). Sports Illustrated calls them the 'thunder from down under': "During the Sydney Olympics a picture of the team doing the haka ran in an American newspaper under the headline 'They can't play, but they sure can dance.' Sweetheart, get me rewrite." Respect. Pride. Coach Tab Baldwin: "There is nothing better than a celebration in New Zealand and we want to give them some more ... to say we're thrilled only highlights the inadequacy of the English language." Los gringos son locos. ANZAC spirit. Captain Pero Cameron joins the greats: named All-Tournament forward.
(August/September 2002)