NZEDGE Sport — A collection of New Zealand sporting articles from global media

In His Element

“When it comes to skateboarding, New Zealander Bjorn Johnston has put in work,” ESPN blogger Joel Rice writes. “Though he joined Element’s Australian team relatively recently, his resume runs quite deep. Prior to signing…

Less Talking More Chalking

Rocky “The Technician” Lane, world record holding professional New Zealand pool champion, is profiled in Air Macau’s in-flight magazine this month. “Upon agreeing to an interview, Lane suggests meeting at Bar 171 in Taipa,…

Gifted Goalkeeper Qualifies

Christchurch-born Michael O’Keeffe, a junior goalkeeper for Connecticut’s Fairfield University soccer team the Stags, has qualified to play in the 2012 London Summer Olympics as a member of the New Zealand Under-23 team. According…

Final Leap Beneath Blue

Teenager Alex Colvin features in the Guardian’s regular gallery ‘24 Hours in Pictures’, competing in the under-17 men’s long jump final on day one of the 2012 New Zealand National Athletics Championships…

Pumas Sign Henry

Sir Graham Henry has signed with the Argentine Rugby Union (UAR) as a part-time consultant with a particular view to improve coaching at Argentina’s high performance centres. The World Cup-winning coach will help fine…

With A Vision For More Gold

New Zealand gold medal eventer Mark Todd, 56, one of only two New Zealanders to compete in six Olympics, says he will ride at his seventh Olympics with a horse “as good as any…

Wimbledon Of Shearing

The 4600 sheep picked for the 2012 World Sheep Shearing Competition in Masterton, and the national Golden Shears championships, were pampered this week, with top clippers from around the globe competing for a top…

Home Match For Crusaders

One major symbol of regeneration in Christchurch is the construction of a temporary stadium in Addington that will be used by the Crusaders Super Rugby team Emma Stoney explains in The New York Times. “The…

Running Paths Of History

New Plymouth-based ultra-distance runner Lisa Tamati and Australian travel journalist Chris Ord recently ran 140km from the desert outpost of Hermannsburg to Alice Springs — retracing the route taken by stockman Hezekial Malbunka when…

All About Winning

Hamilton-born Warren Gatland, 48, the current Wales National Rugby Club Coach, speaks to Meet the Boss TV presenter Padraig Hyland about his ambitions as a coach and for the Welsh team. His greatest satisfaction…

Long Island Hopes For Olympics

New Zealand runner Leanora Petrina, 29, who lives in Bayport, Long Island, is profiled in local publication Long Island Business News. “I run anything from 1500-5km on the track, including the steeplechase, Petrina says. “On…

Pebble Beach On Steroids

“There are a lot of places your golf ball can go on this course, and many of them are not good,” cautioned Ryan Brandeburg, the director of golf at a thrill ride of a…

Towering Forward Impresses

Wellington basketball player, former Scots College student, Steven Adams is Sports Illustrated’s ‘High School Player of the Month’. Seven-foot Adams, who has relocated to the United States playing for Notre Dame Prep, is immensely talented and…

Thrilling Win for Paddison

Wellington golfer Gareth Paddison, 31, held on in a nail-biting finish to win the Victorian PGA Championship at Creswick’s Forest Park by one shot ahead of Australian Leighton Lyle. Forest Resort pro-golfer Ben Roberts…

Highlight Of Career

Taupo-born triathlete Bevan Docherty, 34, has beaten seven-time Tour de France winner American Lance Armstrong to take the Panama half ironman title. Olympic silver-medalist Docherty beat Armstrong by 31 seconds after overtaking him on…

Killer Instinct KO’s American

All Black and heavyweight boxer Sonny Bill Williams, 26, scored a first round knockout over American Clarence Tillman III at Claudelands Events Centre in Hamilton earning him the New Zealand Professional Boxing Association championship…

Invaluable Coaching Insights

World Cup-winning All Black coach Graham Henry, 65, has signed a part-time contract with the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) to help develop New Zealand’s coaching talent. Henry had been interested in working for…

Netting A Place In Black Caps

It was a “rare distinction” for Tharun Nethula, a 28-year-old leg-spinner originally from Hyderabad, India, to be picked to represent New Zealand for the one-day series against Zimbabwe. From St. John’s Coaching Foundation in…

On Track For Tenth Crown

New Zealand has won the fourth leg of the IRB Sevens World Series beating arch-rivals Fiji 24-7 in Wellington. The withering burst of 24 unanswered points in five minutes gave New Zealand a victory…

Hot Premiere Signing

New Zealander Ryan Nelsen, 34, who led the All Whites at the World Cup in South Africa in 2010, has signed with Tottenham Hotspur. Ryan was released by Blackburn after the club agreed to…

Seattle Rowing Appointment

New Zealand rowing coach Richard Parr, 49, has been hired by the Vashon Island Rowing Club (VIRC) in Seattle. He comes to Vashon from the University of Otago, where he spent the past 15…

Teenage Dream Come True

Fourteen-year-old North Harbour amateur Lydia Ko has become the youngest winner of a professional golf tour event, taking the women’s New South Wales Open by four strokes. South Korean-born Ko, the world’s top amateur,…

Caps Bowl Mammoth Victory

The Black Caps bowled out Zimbabwe for 51 and 143 at Napier’s McLean Park to win the one-off Test by an innings and 301 runs — New Zealand’s biggest-ever victory margin. Pacers Chris Martin…

Emphatic Win For Talented Teen

Auckland golf prodigy Lydia Ko has reinforced her ranking as the world’s best female amateur with an emphatic win in the Australian amateur championship at Woodlands in Melbourne. Ko, a gifted 14-year-old, beat Australian…

Scouted And Signed

Seventeen-year-old first baseman Pita Rona is the first New Zealander to sign with an American Major League Baseball team. Auckland-born Rona has signed a seven-year deal with the Baltimore Orioles. Rona, who has played…

Latham Takes Gold

Te Awamutu-born Peter Latham, 28, has won the men’s 4000m individual pursuit race at the UCI World Cup event in Beijing. Latham produced a time of 4:25.964 to beat Mitchell Mulhern (4:26.267) from Australia…

Spinning For Sixes

Dunedin-born Black Cap right-arm spinner, and “more than handy batsman,” Nathan McCullum, 31, has signed with the Sydney Sixers for the remainder of the Big Bash League as a replacement for West Indian import…

Rugby Rules In North Carolina

New Zealander Geoffrey Maw, who lives in North Carolina’s Elizabeth City, is starting a rugby club for high school-age players in Elizabeth City and Pasquotank and Perquimans Counties. Maw — a real estate agent…

Motorcycling’s Ultimate Race

New Zealand’s top motor sports rider Chris Birch, 31, who recently took second place at the 2011 Roof of Africa race, will ride in the 34th running of the Dakar Rally, which begins 1…

Hansen Replaces Henry

The New Zealand Rugby Union have appointed 52-year-old former policeman Steve Hansen as their new coach, replacing Graham Henry who stepped down after winning the World Cup. Dunedin-born Hansen was widely tipped to get…

Magical Early Christmas

The Black Caps celebrated “an early Christmas” with front-page media praise for a seven-run cricket victory in the second Test over Australia in Hobart. Captain Ross Taylor’s remark that the historic win “was for…

Dual-International In Charge

Allrounder Suzie Bates, 24, has been appointed captain of the White Ferns succeeding Aimee Watkins, who retired in July. “I knew there was a chance of leading this team but there are obviously other…

Jumping Back On Court

Rotorua-born basketball player Taki Te Koi plays as a senior for California’s Dominican University women’s team and after a torn ligament injury “is ready to put it all out on the court again in…

Physicality Earns Top Award

All Blacks loose forward Jerome Kaino, 28, was named New Zealand player of the year at the Steinlager Rugby Awards held in Auckland. Kaino played all but 55 seconds of New Zealand’s seven World…

Slamming Sixes Galore

Masterton-born batsman Jesse Ryder, 27, smashed a world record 16 sixes against Australia A in Brisbane on 27 November. Ryder blasted 175 off 137 deliveries primarily against Australia A’s spinners and part-time bowlers at…

Sacred Heart Star To Blackburn

Seventeen-year-old Junior All White Aucklander Tim Payne is the second New Zealander, after All White Ryan Nelsen, to join Lancashire Premiere club the Blackburn Rovers. Payne, who is expected to sign his first professional…

Queens Street Firsts

Andrea Hewitt, 29, won the women’s event while Kris Gemmell beat compatriot Bevan Docherty in the men’s race as New Zealanders dominated their home leg of the ITU World Cup triathlon series in Auckland….

Cycle Team Signing Coup

Takaka native Jack Bauer, 24, represents a “signing coup” for CEO Jonathan Vaughters of Boulder-based cycling unit the 2012 Team Garmin-Cervelo. Vaughters went deep into cycling’s hinterland to find a possible star for Europe’s…

Recapturing the Glory Days

Papakura-born fly-half Stephen Donald, 27, who signed a two-year deal with Premiership club Bath in August, says he wants to help the team recapture their “glory days”. “They’re very ambitious. I’d love to contribute…

Playing Egg-Ball In France

“Like many of his contemporaries, Blair Stewart is a valuable commodity: a New Zealand rugby player,” Tadhg Peavoy writes in a profile of Christchurch-born Stewart, 28, for RTÉ Sports. “Stewart began his career playing…

Comeback On Track

“Here he was, in his 50th year, a successful television boss and New Zealand sporting icon embarking on a comeback he hopes will see him end up playing the first-class game again,” The Telegraph’s…

Jaw-dropping Triumph

Player agent New Zealander Tyran Smith, 37, knows he’s set himself a tough benchmark by brokering perhaps the NRL’s most extraordinary contract — a two-year deal worth A$1.7 million for 19-year-old Will Hopoate who…

Whirling Dervish Duty Bound

“For the first time in 26 years, a team from New Zealand will make a bid for the Volvo Ocean Race without New Zealand legend Grant Dalton whirling dervishly around deck demanding more effort…

Macau’s Straight Shooter

Affectionately known as ‘Machine Gun Rock’, pool player Rocky Lane — former police officer and prosecutor, world record jump shooter, and now resident House Pro at Macau’s Private Party Bar — is…

Winning Irish Debut

New Zealand World Cup winner prop John Afoa, 28, has signed a two-and-a-half year deal with Ulster. Auckland-born Afoa came on as a replacement in New Zealand’s wins over Japan and Argentina in the…

Galloper From Day One

Young Cambridge trainer Trent Busuttin’s hard work has paid off with Sangster winning the $A1.5 million Victoria Derby at Flemington. Busuttin, who has just turned 32, was almost lost for words when Sangster ($A13)…

Roosters Snap Up Otahuhu Star

Auckland schoolboy 18-year-old fullback/winger Roger Tuivasa-Sheck has been snapped up by the Sydney Roosters. Tuivasa-Sheck has starred in both rugby codes at schoolboy level and recently represented New Zealand’s national schoolboy rugby union team…