News of New Zealanders via Global Media

Woods’ Own Hill

Woods’ Own Hill

New Zealand entrepreneur Nick Wood, co-creator of internet service provider iHug, which sold for NZ$82 million in 23, is currently in the United States where he has purchased Teton Pass Ski Resort in Wyoming…

Peak Performance

Peak Performance

New Zealand has paid tribute to Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay with their Commonwealth Games logo and unique team-identifier, ‘2928 Hillary and Tenzing’, the figure being the height of Mt Everest. “It’s…

On Loan to Barnsley

On Loan to Barnsley

Eighteen-year-old Aucklander Chris Wood has signed with South Yorkshire’s Barnsley Football Club on a three-month emergency deal. The 6ft 2ins tall New Zealand international, who is a striker for West Bromwich Albion, played in…

Future Focus

Future Focus

The “All Blacks looking good, and that’s a problem” headlines a New York Times story profiling the team ahead of the 211 Rugby World Cup. Despite all the team’s previous upsets, New Zealand…

Exciting Appointment

Exciting Appointment

Huntly-born rugby league half-back Jeremy Smith, 29, who currently plays for the UK team Salford City Reds, has signed a one-year contract with another British club, the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats. Smith, who can play…

Peak to Break

Peak to Break

Four of New Zealand’s top ski and surf personalities have completed a first, travelling the length of the country in five days, skiing a different summit and surfing a different break every day. Coming…

Cycling the Peninsula

Cycling the Peninsula

The Otago Peninsula was recently included in a Lonely Planet list of the world’s top ten cycling routes, alongside the San Juan Islands in Washington, The Luberon and Mont Ventoux in Provence and…

Brazil on the Cards

Brazil on the Cards

Ricki Herbert has signed a new two-year contract as coach of the All Whites. Herbert, 49, took New Zealand to the World Cup championship for the first time since 1982 guiding the squad through…

Winning ways

Winning ways

Champion jockey Rotorua-born Michael Walker, 26, has won the $AU7, Sphinx Hotel Handicap (12m) on Venus World at Moonee Valley in Melbourne. Walker started his riding career 11 years ago and in his first…

Close Call in Sydney

Close Call in Sydney

New Zealand narrowly beat Australia 23-22 in the final Tri-Nations match sealing an unprecedented clean sweep in the southern hemisphere rugby championship with a record 1th consecutive win over the Wallabies in Sydney. New…

Without Peer

Without Peer

Wallabies coach New Zealander Robbie Deans says there is no doubt Richie McCaw is the greatest modern skipper in All Blacks history. McCaw has led New Zealand in more rugby Tests than any other….

Player of the Year

Player of the Year

Black Caps captain Daniel Vettori, 31, has won New Zealand Cricket’s top award: Player of the Year. Vettori also won the Walter Hadlee trophy for being the best ODI bowler. “Daniel is and has…

Powell Wins Burghley

Powell Wins Burghley

Christchurch equestrian star Scotland-based Caroline Powell, 37, is the first New Zealand woman to win the prestigious four-star Burghley Horse Trials held in Lincolnshire. Riding 17-year-old grey Lenamore, Powell held off local favourite William…

Ferns Win Again

Ferns Win Again

The Black Ferns have won their fourth Women’s Rugby World Cup beating England 13-1 at Twickenham Stoop in front of a crowd of 13,253. Guardian sports writer Robert Kitson declared the match “the most…

All the Better for Pero

All the Better for Pero

First the Tall Blacks beat Canada 71-61 at Halkapinar Arena in Izmir, Turkey, and then France 82-7 in the knockout round of the FIBA World Championship. The team now faces Russia (the TBs went…

Will They Be Drinking Their Tea Out of Saucers?

Will They Be Drinking Their Tea Out of Saucers?

From Wellington to Wagga Wagga it’s Bledislode time again. The All Blacks come to July’s Tri-Nation series against Australia and South Africa with a string of wins under their belts, some less than convincing. They’d better…

Oklahoma Appointment

Oklahoma Appointment

Emma Gresson, originally from Hamilton, has joined The University of Oklahoma rowing staff as an assistant coach. Gresson previously worked with the Orlando, Florida Area Rowing Society (OARS), assisting with the junior girls’ programme…

More Than Tiger’s Caddy

More Than Tiger’s Caddy

Golf caddy Steve Williams always wanted to carry someone else’s golf clubs, and he ended up carrying them for Tiger Woods. Williams could always see that the golfers he caddied for did well. “I…

Ah Van Switches Sides

Ah Van Switches Sides

New Zealand Warriors utility Aucklander Patrick Ah Van, 22, has signed a one-year contract with West Yorkshire rugby league team Bradford Bulls. Of Ah Van’s switch, Warriors chief executive Wayne Scurrah told the club…

International Expertise

International Expertise

Palmerston North midfielder Nick Roydhouse, 22, who transferred from Hartwick College to play football for Syracuse University in New York, is profiled by local publication The Daily Orange. In 27, Roydhouse was part of…

Mudgway then Melbourne

Mudgway then Melbourne

Cambridge jockey James McDonald, 18, has became the first apprentice to win a Mudgway Stakes with Keep The Peace winning in the group one feature at Hastings. It was the third group one win…

Rugby and Much More

Rugby and Much More

The arrival of a 25 metre-long New Zealand rugby ball on Circular Quay “within cooee of the Sydney Opera House” marks one year until the 211 Rugby World Cup kicks off. As a conspicuous…

Speed Queen on Salt

Speed Queen on Salt

Christchurch-born Miriam MacMillan is the third New Zealander and first New Zealand woman to earn a “2 MPH hat”, which she claimed driving a 2.1 litre Honda CRX at the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah,…

She Wants to Go to Chelsea

She Wants to Go to Chelsea

New Zealand women’s football captain Hayley Moorwood, 26, has joined English club Chelsea FC. Moorwood, who was also attracting interest from Chelsea’s London rivals Arsenal, was thrilled at the signing. “Joining a club like…

Smeltz to Turkey

Smeltz to Turkey

New Zealand striker Shane Smeltz, 29, is leaving Australian football team Gold Coast United having signed a two-year deal with Turkish Süper Lig club Gençlerbirligi S.K. The reigning A-League Golden Boot played in United’s…

Hero at the crease

Hero at the crease

“It’s remarkable that a biography had not been written on one of New Zealand’s most distinctive sports figures before now,” writes The New Zealand Herald’s David Leggat after the launch of Richard Boock’s The…

Tri-Nations Clinched

Tri-Nations Clinched

New Zealand has won the Tri-Nations series beating South Africa 29-22 in Johannesburg. The hosts had led 22-17 up until the 78th minute when All Blacks skipper Richie McCaw scored a controversial try in…

Medals and a Record

Medals and a Record

Seventeen-year-old swimmer Sophie Pascoe has won four medals at the 21 IPC Swimming World Championships in Eindhoven, Netherlands, with her first gold in the women’s 1m butterfly and in world record time. She knocked…

Olympic gold for Barclay

Olympic gold for Barclay

Southland teenager Aaron Barclay has won gold in the men’s individual triathlon and silver with Australasian team-mate Maddie Dillon in the team race at the first Youth Olympic Games in Singapore. Barclay, 17, who…

Thrill-seeker Flips

Thrill-seeker Flips

With this “insanely-extended Hart Attack backflip” (above), Palmerston North daredevil Levi Sherwood, 19, won the fifth stop of the Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour, held at Battersea Power Station in London. This is Sherwood’s…

Calm in Victory

Calm in Victory

Scrabble master Nigel Richards, 43, has won the National Scrabble Championship in Dallas. The Malaysia-based security analyst played 31 games, winning with a 25-6 record. Richards is known for his photographic memory and for…

Search for Sutcliffe

Search for Sutcliffe

Attempts to find and relocate the ashes of cricketing great Bert Sutcliffe have failed because no-one recorded where they had been buried nine years ago. Sutcliffe’s ashes were buried at the Carisbrook ground in…

Relentless Finish

Relentless Finish

Gisborne surfer Jay Quinn, 27, has taken second place at the ASP Relentless Boardmasters competition in Newquay, England. Quinn said of his placing: “I’m happy because it’s a career best result for myself…

Watch This Space

Watch This Space

Eighteen-year-old superheavyweight boxer Joseph Parker has been invited to compete at the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore this month. Parker, who stands at 1.95m, recently pummelled Pan-American champion Cuban Yuniel Castro Chavez in the…

They’ve Done it Again

They’ve Done it Again

New Zealand have secured their 13th consecutive Test win beating Australia 2-1 in Christchurch, securing the Bledisloe Cup for the seventh straight year. After their 48-29 hammering when the teams met in Melbourne last…

Avalanche Highlight

Avalanche Highlight

The 8th Annual New Zealand Heli Challenge was recently held in Wanaka. The two-day Heli Challenge involves a “freestyle” day, while the other is reserved for “freeride” stylings. The highlights of the contest included…

Hammers Signing

Hammers Signing

Auckland-born Winston Reid, 22, who scored the memorable last-minute equaliser for New Zealand at the World Cup against Slovakia, has signed a three-year contract with English Premier League club West Ham United for an…

Snowy Did it All

Snowy Did it All

“So remarkable was the sporting life of Eric Tindill, who has died in Wellington at 99 years and 226 days, that being the longest lived of all the 2600 men who have played test…

Walker Makes Podium

Walker Makes Podium

Whakatane-born Sarah Walker, 22, has won silver at the UCI BMX World Championship in Peitermaritzburg, South Africa. Racing in the elite women’s category, Walker, the 29 world champion, took second place after a hard…

All Blacks dominate

All Blacks dominate

“Dan Carter inspires as freewheeling New Zealand crush Australia,” headlines the Guardian. “The All Blacks gained their third successive five-pointer in the tournament at a sandy Etihad Stadium in Melbourne beating the Wallabies 49-28…

Our pick for ICC

Our pick for ICC

Chairman of New Zealand Cricket Alan Isaac, 58, has trumped former Australian Prime Minister John Howard as the region’s nominee to take the ICC’s vice-presidency, which after a two-year term leads to the top…

Sell-out in Soweto

Sell-out in Soweto

The All Blacks’ historic test against the Springboks in Soweto at Johannesburg’s famed Soccer City — now called the National Stadium — has sold out, with nearly 9, fans to attend the match on…

Record for Rocket Man

Record for Rocket Man

All Blacks star Joe Rokocoko, 27, is the team’s most-capped winger surpassing national treasures John Kirwan and Jonah Lomu. “It’s a huge honour for myself considering the players who have gone before me — it’s…

Rules Are Rules

Rules Are Rules

New Zealand IndyCar driver Scott Dixon has won the Honda Edmonton Indy, the second win of the year for the 3-year-old racer with the Target Chip Ganassi team. This latest victory however was somewhat…

Holy Smoke He’s Good

Holy Smoke He’s Good

Takapuna Grammar student Jacko Gill, 15, has astonished the athletics world with his shot put ability winning gold at the World Junior Championships in Canada. Gill threw the 6kg ball 20.76m winning by more…

Battle of Wool

Battle of Wool

Te Kuiti’s David Fagan, 48, and Cam Ferguson, 26, from Waipawa have won the teams machine shearing title at the 14th Golden Shears World Shearing and Woolhandling Championships in Wales, with Ferguson taking out…

All Blacks start afresh

All Blacks start afresh

“New Zealand is revolutionising rugby,” according to The Independent’s Peter Bills. “For those with a brain to think, a mind to rationalise, what the All Blacks are doing right now in world rugby terms…

Control on the Park

Control on the Park

The All Blacks have beaten the Springboks in their opening Tri-Nations match 32-12 at Eden Park “with a superbly controlled and aggressive performance”. The All Blacks, who had lost their three previous encounters against…

NZ Takeover in US

NZ Takeover in US

New Zealanders Joanne Kiesanowski, 31, and Catherine Cheatley, 27, who represented New Zealand at the 28 Olympics in Beijing, finished first and second, respectively, in the 1-lap Senior Women’s Category 1-2 event at the…

One Great Ride

One Great Ride

The first legs of the 3km New Zealand Cycle Trail have been opened between Ruapehu and Whanganui. This 242km section of the trail will take four to six days to ride, with varying levels…

Sparkling run continues

Sparkling run continues

Former first-class cricketer Aucklander Michael Hendry, 3, has won the million-dollar Indonesia Open at Damai Indah golf club in Jakarta. In-form Hendry, who won the Fiji Open two weeks ago, finished with a four-round…

Familiar Green

Familiar Green

New Zealander, Indianapolis-based Indycar driver, Scott Dixon talks to Democrat and Chronicle writer James Johnson about racing at the world-famous race track Watkins Glen International in New York. Dixon has three victories in IndyCar…

Gender Surprises

Gender Surprises

Dr David Rowlands, a senior lecturer with the Institute of Food, Nutrition and Human Health at Massey University, has found after exercise women, unlike men, showed no clear benefit from protein during recovery. Several…

Strings to His Bow

Strings to His Bow

Sonny Bill Williams, 24, who has signed an 18th-month contract with the New Zealand Rugby Union, is considering a return to NRL after the next season or to the ring, “if the boxing bug…

Double Win in Philly

Double Win in Philly

New Zealanders Bevan Docherty, 33, and Nicky Samuels, 27, have taken home the men’s and women’s titles at the sixth annual Philadelphia Triathlon. Due to the disappearance of a 4-year-old male competitor in the…

Back in the Saddle

Back in the Saddle

Michael Walker, 26, has returned to the race course after a life-threatening pig-shooting accident resulted in the Rotorua-born jockey suffering a serious head injury when he fell 7m down a bluff in 28. “As…