News of New Zealanders via Global Media

“Crazy Kiwi” Charges Hard

“Crazy Kiwi” Charges Hard

Christchurch surfer Doug Young won the ‘Deep Throat’ award at the 2004 Red Bull Big Wave event in South Africa. The ‘Deep Throat’ prize goes to the “hardest charger” – the surfer who braves the biggest, messiest waves without…

Ironwoman

Ironwoman

Lynley Allison won her first Ironman title at the 2004 Ironman USA Coeur d’Alene triathlon in Coeur d’Alene. She finished a full 10 minutes ahead of second place getter Heather Gollnick (US), after taking an unshakeable lead…

A Race of Extremes

A Race of Extremes

John O’Loghlen (NZ investment banker at Goldman Sachs, NY) and Rosa Volz (Wellington IT worker) were the first non-Mongolian man and woman respectively to finish the 42km Mongolia Sunrise to Sunset Marathon, “one of the toughest and…

Back on Track for 2007

Back on Track for 2007

Team NZ has finally announced its challenge for the 2007 America’s Cup in Valencia, Spain, thanks to a multimillion dollar sponsorship deal from Dubai-based Emirates Airlines. The syndicate has missed two previous confirmation dates due to lack…

Craig Puts Middlesex to the Spear

Craig Puts Middlesex to the Spear

Ex-Black Cap Craig Spearman broke W.G Grace’s record for the best ever innings in an English county cricket match, hitting a staggering 341 runs for Gloucester against Middlesex. The legendary Grace made 318 not out for Gloucester…

Kiwis Make it 5 in a Row

Kiwis Make it 5 in a Row

NZ held on to its world series rugby sevens crown for the fifth year in a row, despite losing 22-19 to England in the final of the London leg. The Kiwis had already reached an unassailable position…

Jack Foster, 71

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…

Back to Back Wins at ‘The Glens’

Back to Back Wins at ‘The Glens’

Kiwi driver Scott Dixon of Target Chip Ganassi Racing has won the Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix for the second consecutive year. Dixon’s win – his first for 2006 – moves him up two…

Ulmer, Henderson, Cycle to Victory.

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. Greg Henderson also…

Bruce Reihana: Players’ Player

Bruce Reihana: Players’ Player

Former All Black wing, Bruce Reihana, was named the English premier league’s Professional Rugby Players’ Association (PRA) Players’ Player of the Year in May. The 28-year-old Northampton Saints star was the English Premiership’s joint top try-scorer at the…

Black Sticks Blitz

Black Sticks Blitz

The NZ women’s hockey team emerged victorious from its 4-Test series against India in May. The Kiwis took an unbeatable lead by drawing the third Test after winning the first two.  

Docherty Takes on the World … and Wins

Docherty Takes on the World … and Wins

Bevan Docherty won gold at the 2004 Triathlon World Championship in Funchal, Madeira. Fellow Kiwis Hamish Carter and Shane Reed came in at 6th and 7th place, respectively, with Samantha Warriner finishing 13th in the women’s event. Debbie…

Jonah, His Story

Jonah, His Story

Rugby icon Jonah Lomu is back in the news thanks to the release of his highly-anticipated autobiography, Jonah My Story. The Age praises the “simple yet emotionally taut language” Lomu uses to portray his rise from troubled and…

Hero’s Exit for Cairns

Hero’s Exit for Cairns

Chris Cairns retired from international Test cricket with a bang on the Black Caps tour of England. In the second Test he beat Viv Richards’ previous record of 84 Test sixes, knocking four sixes and 10 fours…

Crumpton Chicago-bound

Crumpton Chicago-bound

Shireen Crumpton won the 42.2km Canberra Marathon in impressive style, crossing the line a full 16 minutes before second place-getter Helen Verity-Tolhurst of Queensland. Crumpton’s victory earns her a starting place at the prestigious Chicago Marathon in October….

The Wright Stuff

The Wright Stuff

John Wright led India to a historic Test series win against traditional rivals Pakistan – the side’s first on Pakistani soil. The former NZ player is the first non-Indian to coach the national cricket team. …

Multi-tasker

Multi-tasker

“Double internationals – people who represent their country at more than one sport – are rare. Someone who represents his country on the sports field and also stands on it to sing the national anthem is…

Baby Blacks Sweep the Field

Baby Blacks Sweep the Field

NZ won its fourth title in six years at the IRB Under-19 World Championship in Durban, with a convincing 34-11 victory over France. NZ made four tries to France’s one, with fullback Miah Nikora supplying 14 points…

History Made by “Best Side Ever”

History Made by “Best Side Ever”

31 March 2004 – The NZ Black Caps have leaped from 8th place to 3rd in world one-day cricket rankings thanks to their first ever series win over South Africa. “It feels great,” said captain Stephen Fleming…

Sticking it to the Competition

Sticking it to the Competition

Both the NZ men’s and women’s hockey teams have qualified for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. It will be the fourth time the women’s team (the Black Sticks) have competed at the Games. Says goalkeeper Helen…

Stars in the Making

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…

Black Sox Sock it to the World’s Best

Black Sox Sock it to the World’s Best

The NZ Black Sox beat Canada 9-5 to win the World Softball Championships for the third year running. Mark Sorenson came out of retirement to earn his fourth gold medal, leading his team to victory with a…

Home Turf Win

Home Turf Win

NZ cruised to the top of the International Rugby Sevens table with a resounding 33-15 win over Fiji in the Wellington series final. Matua Parkinson, who had assumed the captaincy due to the unavailability of both Karl…

Quality Export

Quality Export

Former Wellington Saints player, Calum MacLeod, is the latest Kiwi basketballer to be snapped up by the US college league. The 20-year-old – who stands a fraction under 7 feet – has been accepted at Seattle’s Gonzaga…

Sun Shines on Black Caps

Sun Shines on Black Caps

The Black Caps won a thrilling one-day international series against Pakistan 4-1, with captain Stephen Fleming leading by example. Highlights included an unbeaten century by Scott Styris in the first match, another by…

Sir Bob Farewelled in Almost Perfect Symmetry

Sir Bob Farewelled in Almost Perfect Symmetry

NZ golfing great, Sir Bob Charles, made his last ever appearance at the NZ Open – an event he won for the first of 4 times as an 18-year-old amateur in 1954. Said Charles, prior to…

Down Under Up-and-coming

Down Under Up-and-coming

CNN profiles the rash of Australasian talent currently infiltrating PGA ranks. Included in its top ten are two NZ golfers, “since to North Americans they’re Down Under, too” – Michael Campbell (world ranking 45) and Phil Tataurangi…

Over but Not Quite Out

Over but Not Quite Out

No.1 women’s squash player, Carol Owens, retired from her professional career on a high note by winning her second World Open title in December. Owens may still represent NZ at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne: “I don’t think…

‘Queen of the Green’ will be Missed

‘Queen of the Green’ will be Missed

Millie Khan, one of NZ’s best-loved and most successful sportspeople, died unexpectedly of a heart attack in Rotorua aged 65. Khan took up lawn bowls at 38 and was representing NZ 9 years later. She won silver…

The World Breaks left to Raglan

The World Breaks left to Raglan

The final of the 2003 Oxbo World Longboard Championships was held near Raglan, November 6-16. The prestigious US$50,000 event saw top competitors from the US, Australia, Brazil, South Africa and Hawaii surf Manu Bay’s famed left-hand…

Black Day for ABs

Black Day for ABs

After starting as promising co-favourites the All Blacks finished a disappointing third in the 2003 World Cup being knocked out in the semi-finals 22-10 by a more professional and committed Wallaby performance. England defeated Australia 20-17…

Where Angels Tread

Where Angels Tread

Time magazine special on exotic bike tours recommends Butterfield & Robinson’s NZ adventure, ‘Cloud Walk.’ After cycling Fox Glacier, participants are ferried to Mt Cook via helicopter: “There, from above the cloud line, visitors can look down…

Catch Me if You Can Merriman

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…

End of a Long Innings

End of a Long Innings

Gordon Lindsay Weir, the world’s oldest surviving Test cricketer, died in Auckland on October 31 aged 95 years and 151 days. Known in cricketing circles as ‘Dad,’ the right-hand batsman and medium-pace bowler played 11 Tests for…

Twin Engined Sculls

Twin Engined Sculls

Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell received the International Rowing Federation’s Female Rower or Crew of the Year Award at the annual FISA Coaches Conference in Athens this month. The twins won their second consecutive world championships title in…

Go Karting Cunningham

Go Karting Cunningham

Auckland teenager Wade Cunningham added to NZ motorsport’s current winning streak by claiming the world karting championship crown in Sarno, Italy. According to Kartsport NZ spokesman, Ross McKay, the 19-year-old’s victory is “unprecedented in the history of NZ motorsport ……

Galloping Grylls

Galloping Grylls

NZ jockey Gary Grylls won the AU$90,000 Geelong Classic astride Penitentiary, despite lagging nearly 20 lengths behind leader North Face rounding the home turn. Grylls on his steed: “He was travelling well and I could see…

Supertramp

Supertramp

13-year-old Christchurch schoolgirl, Kimberley Shea, won gold at the 2003 Trampoline and Tumbling World Age Group games in Hanover, Germany. Shea came first in the 13-14 Women’s Double Mini Trampoline discipline. Her routine included the single most difficult…

Kiwis Tie Down Kangaroos

Kiwis Tie Down Kangaroos

The Kiwis convincingly defeated the Australian Kangaroos with a rousing 30-16 victory in a rugby league test at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland. Led by the hat-trick of tries by Clinton Toopi (a trans-Tasman record) and another…

Day of Thunder for Dixon

Day of Thunder for Dixon

Scott Dixon, 23, racing for the Target Chip Ganassi Racing Team, claimed the Indy Racing League title in Fort Worth, Texas. It was his first attempt on the circuit. Finishing 2nd in the season’s nerve-racking final…

Ocean Masters

Ocean Masters

Team NZ/Hawaii won the 52nd annual Hawaii Modular Space Molokai Hoe on October 12 by almost 5 minutes. The 41 mile race is considered the world championship of long-distance outrigger canoeing. Team NZ/Hawaii comprises four Kiwis (Rob…

Making Waves Out of Raglan

Making Waves Out of Raglan

Kerry Black and his Raglan-based company, ASR (Artificial Surf Reef Ltd), are the focus of a SunSpot article on improving surf on America’s East Coast. A former Waikato University lecturer, Black is at the forefront of artificial…

Winning Edge

Winning Edge

2002 women’s rugby world champions, the Black Ferns, stormed a two-test series against a World XV with two convincing wins; 37-0 in Auckland, 38-19 in Whangarei. Chief point scorers in the second match were Mere Kingi,…

Giant of the Game Acknowledged by IRPA

Giant of the Game Acknowledged by IRPA

The International Rugby Players Association (IRPA) presented Jonah Lomu with its discretionary Special Merit Award at a ceremony in Sydney on November 18. Lomu, described by The Star as “the face of the last two World Cups,”…

Great Expectations

Great Expectations

The All Blacks go into this year’s Rugby World Cup ranked second after England, yet the British press largely favours them to win. According to the Observer, “the ABs are certainties for the final stages. If…

Break In

Break In

Coach Jeff Green is confident that the NZ Breakers’ status in Australia’s National Basketball League will be similar to that currently enjoyed by rugby league team, the NZ Warriors. “One team, one country … The country’s…

Warriors Fight to the Finish

Warriors Fight to the Finish

The New Zealand Warriors fought strongly again this season, losing in the NRL Preliminary Final to eventual winners Penrith Panthers 28-20 in a match played at a cracking pace. They again earned respect for their commitment and…

Robin Williams: “I Realised I Could Fall Out of Jonah’s Nose …”

Robin Williams: “I Realised I Could Fall Out of Jonah’s Nose …”

Jonah Lomu has announced his withdrawal from this year’s NPC competition, and has given up any hope of making the 2003 World Cup squad. The most famed of wingers has experienced foot and calf muscle problems…

Dickson at the Helm

Dickson at the Helm

NZ sailing veteran, Chris Dickson, led Oracle BMW Racing to a 7-5 victory against the America’s Cup winning Alinghi in September’s Moet Cup. The event was the first in a series of high-profile regattas leading up…

Flat-out Fouhy Takes Kayak World Champ Gold

Flat-out Fouhy Takes Kayak World Champ Gold

NZ’s Ben Fouhy won the individual 1,000m kayaking event at the flat-water world championships held in the US last month, qualifying him for the 2004 Athens Olympics. Trained by NZ Olympic legend Ian Ferguson, he raced…

Desaru Medal Haul

Desaru Medal Haul

NZ athletes dominated the field at this year’s Desaru Long Distance International Triathlon in Malaysia. Lynley Allison and Stephen Farrell won the women’s senior and men’s veteran events, respectively, and Brent Sheldrake won the men’s junior event…

Natural High

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…

Double Success for Twins

Double Success for Twins

At the World Rowing Championships in Milan the Evers-Swindell (Caroline and Georgina) sisters repeated their winning performance of 2002 in the double sculls and are firm favourites for gold at Athens in 2004. Caroline: “To go out there…

Umpiring as an Art Form

Umpiring as an Art Form

BBC feature on NZ cricket umpire, Billy Bowden, tracks his unlikely rise to the top of the white-coated ranks. Bowden fell into umpiring after rheumatoid arthritis halted his own career as a player….

Iron Will

Iron Will

Golfer Phil Tataurangi has returned from injury in time to defend his Las Vegas Invitational title in October. Tataurangi was forced to drop out of the professional circuit in May in order to have corrective surgery on…

Legendary Lance Hangs up the Saddle

Legendary Lance Hangs up the Saddle

Champion NZ jockey, Lance O’Sullivan, has announced his retirement from racing at age 39. O’Sullivan has ridden over 2,470 winners and has been crowned NZ champion rider a record 12 times. His international achievements include…