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

NZ Proposes Winter Games

An interim board is developing a proposal to launch the inaugural New Zealand Winter Games in 2009. The aim of the Winter Games is to provide elite winter athletes from Pacific Rim countries with off-season training…

Mighty Totara of NZ Rugby

All Black and NZ Maori legend Pat Walsh has died of cancer aged 71. Renowned for his versatility, Walsh played 13 Tests in four positions between 1955 and 1963. He served as…

Fifth Olympics for Kendall

NZ sporting icon Barbara Kendall has earned her fifth Olympic Games spot. Kendall described her early selection for Beijing 2008 as “awesome” after it was announced at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. Kendall has already won…

Painful Memories

Two NZ athletes feature in a list of sport’s 20 worst injuries, as chosen by The Times of South Africa. Cricketer Trevor Franklin is ranked 17th and former All Black captain Buck Shelford 15th in a…

A Diamond in the Rough

A little-known NZ rugby book has received critical acclaim in the UK. Inside French Rugby: Confessions of a Kiwi Mercenary offers an insight into author John Daniell’s experiences as a professional player, and is described…

Home-grown Steeds Sweep Melbourne

NZ-bred horses made an extraordinary clean sweep of this year’s Spring Racing Carnival in Melbourne. Last year’s Victoria Derby champion, Efficient, was the surprise winner of the Melbourne Cup, streaking past European entries Purple Moon and Mahler…

Protest Heard Around the World

NZ-born pro surfer Dave “Rasta” Rastovich led an international protest over Japan’s commercial slaughter of dolphins in November, gaining significant media coverage for his cause. Rastovich, a free surfer for Billabong, is a co-founder of the charity…

Black Beauty Strikes at Brno

Team NZ is top of the A1 Grand Prix table after scoring a double victory in Brno, Czech Republic. Black Beauty driver Jonny Reid won both the sprint and feature races, pushing NZ past…

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…

Triathlon Success in Rhodes

Kris Gemmell is the latest in a string of NZ athletes to win a World Cup triathlon event this year. Gemmell finished first at the inaugural Rhodes World Cup in Greece, beating the UK’s Alistair…

Curse of the Perennial Favourites

Another NZ Rugby World Cup campaign has ended in tatters, with the All Blacks bowing out 18-20 to France in the quarterfinal. Despite being consistently ranked first in the world, and NZ being the only…

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…

Two-time World Record Holder

Wellington freediver Dave Mullins has set a new world record by swimming 244m underwater in a single breath. The 26-year-old broke his own record of two days prior by 18m during an international…

Beckham Boots Up for Wellington

Soccer star David Beckham will join his team Los Angeles Galaxy in a $2 million exhibition match against Wellington Phoenix. “We as the club are bearing most of the costs,” said Phoenix owner Terry Serepisos….

Taipei Gold Rush

NZ athletes have won seven gold, one silver and two bronze medals at the 2007 IWAS World Wheelchair and Amputee Games in Taipei, Taiwan. Christchurch swimmer Sophie Pascoe topped the medal haul, winning four gold medals…

Carter in Adidas Viral

All Black Daniel Carter stars in a new viral advertisement for Adidas. The ad was shot at Carter’s parents’ house, and shows Daniel and his father talking about his childhood spent kicking goals in the back…

Keeper Scores ManU Tryout

NZ soccer goalkeeper Jacob Gleeson flies to England next month to trial for two major Premier League clubs. The 17-year-old Wellingtonian so impressed scouts at the U-17 World Cup in South Korea last month that he secured…

MX Star Takes Second World Title

Auckland teen Katherine Prumm has won her second consecutive women’s motocross world title at the series final in the Netherlands. The 19-year-old rider dominated the final day of the competition, beating Kawasaki team-mates Livia…

Rowing Champs Bode Well for Beijing

NZ athletes continue to dominate world rowing, with another impressive medal haul at this year’s world championships in Munich, Germany. Single sculler Mahe Drysdale, lightweight sculler Duncan Grant and the men’s four of…

Order of Merit for Lomu and Fagan

Two NZ sports greats were made members of the New Zealand Order of Merit at this year’s investiture ceremony. All Black legend Jonah Lomu and sheep shearing champion David Fagan (pictured) both received…

Golden Vili

Shot put star Valerie Vili has won gold at the IAAF Athletics World Championships in Osaka, Japan. Vili threw a personal best of 20.54 meters, beating defending champion Nadzeya Ostapchuk of Belarus by six centimetres. “It’s pretty…

Surf Up-and-comer

Oakura teen Paige Hareb has been ranked fourth in the world in women’s under-18 surfing since the junior world championships in May. The 17-year-old was also the first New Zealander ever to compete…

Fifth Win for Warriner

NZ athletes made another strong showing in the eleventh leg of the 2007 BG Triathlon World Cup Series. The event in Tiszaujvaros, Hungary, saw three podium finishes for NZ competitors. Samantha Warriner became the first NZ…

Marathon Medal Prospect

Auckland runner Nina Rillstone finished third in the New York City Half-Marathon, just seconds behind Kenyans Hilda Kibet and Catherine Ndereba. The NZ record holder made a career best time of 1:10:35 – three seconds…

Something to Crowe About

Russell Crowe is gradually proving the naysayers wrong as co-owner of the South Sydney ‘Rabbitohs’ rugby league club. Crowe and businessman Peter Holmes à Court took over and privatised the beleaguered club in 2006, sparking numerous protests from…

Golden Axes

NZ athletes dominated at the 48th annual Lumberjack World Championships in Hayward, Wisconsin. Jason Wynyard beat fellow New Zealanders David Bolstad and Dion Lane to win his ninth All-Around Lumberjack title. The Aucklander described the…

1,3 NZ Finish in Austria

Christchurch Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Andrea Hewitt has won her first World Cup triathlon title at Kitzbuhel, Austria. The 25-year-old beat Austrian Eva Dollinger by three seconds in a sprint finish, after leading the field in…

Two Down, One to Go

The All Blacks have completed the final leg of their World Cup build-up by retaining both the Bledisloe and TriNations trophies, with a 26–12 defeat of the Wallabies…

Champion Teen Eyes MX Crown

Hamish Dobbyn, a 15-year-old motocross rider from Warkworth, has won the 250cc four-stroke class at the Yamaha MX National Development Series in Australia. Next on his agenda is the World Junior Motocross Championships in…

Woods & Williams Still a Team

Steve Williams, Tiger Woods’ NZ-born caddie, has denied reports he is intending to end the pair’s lucrative eight-year partnership. “I have no idea where this has come from,” Williams told NZ’s Sunday Star-Times. “Perhaps Tiger may…

Watch This Space

Former All Black star Jonah Lomu believes he is back to his physical peak and will not rule out a return to rugby – or even a switch to rugby league. “It’s irrelevant what everyone else…

Precious Metal

NZ athletes won four gold, two silver and a bronze medal at last week’s rowing world championships in Lucerne, Switzerland. Gold medals were won by Mahe Drysdale (single scull), Georgina and Caroline Evers-Swindell…

Auld Mug Stays with Swiss

Alinghi has successfully defended the America’s Cup, defeating Emirates Team NZ 5-2 in the best-of-nine series. The 2007 event was the closest in years, with the Swiss team winning the seventh race by a mere second….

Fourth World Cup for Docherty

NZ Olympic silver medallist Bevan Docherty has won his fourth International Triathlon Union (ITU) World Cup at Edmonton, Canada. Docherty’s win is the culmination of seven straight top-eight finishes and boosts him to second place on the…

Mind Over Matter

NZ neuroscientist Dr Kerry Spackman is working with Team McLaren to uncover the workings of a racing driver’s mind. “In most sports now, the modern athlete is pushing his brain to the limit,” he says….

Wet Win in Vancouver

Whangarei triathlete Samantha Warriner has won the US $100,000 BG Triathlon World Cup in Vancouver, clawing back from 20th place to beat American Sarah Haskins and Australian Erin Densham in wet and cold conditions. “The rain coming…

LV Victory Sees America’s Cup Rematch

Emirates Team NZ has demolished Luna Rossa 5-0 to win the Louis Vuitton Cup. Team NZ will now meet Swiss defender Alinghi in the America’s Cup best-of-nine series, beginning June 2003. In stark contrast to their usual…

Brand Passion Paramount

Sean Fitzpatrick and the All Blacks are held up as inspiring examples for business leaders by American finance blogger, Jim Citrin: “No other sports franchise in the world has achieved a 72 percent winning percentage over…

Pole Position

Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ) has won the Louis Vuitton challenger series, crushing American rival BMW Oracle Racing by 1m 34s. The victory gave ETNZ the right to choose its opponent for the best-of-nine semifinals. Skipper

The Players’ Player

Former NZ Maori representative Glen Jackson has won Britain’s Professional Rugby Players’ Association (PRA) player of the year award, calling it “the greatest achievement of my rugby career”. The 31-year-old Saracens fly-half, who previously played for Waikato…

Diving’s Best Kept Secret

Jacques Cousteau named the Poor Knights Islands one of the world’s top ten dive sites and Australian travel writer Nigel Marsh agrees. Located 24km off the coastline of Tutukaka, 200km north of Auckland, the Poor Knights…

Surfing the Menu in NZ

NZ chef Mark Gardner will co-present the fourth season of popular cooking show Surfing the Menu, with London-based Australian Ben O’Donoghue. Gardner, 29, replaces O’Donoghue’s previous co-presenter, Australian Curtis Stone. The fourth season comprises…

New Era for NZ Golf Open

Jeweller Michael Hill’s private golf club has been unveiled as the NZ Open venue for the next three years. Designed by landscape architect John Darby, the Hills Golf Club covers 202 hectares of land in Arrowtown, just…

Phoenix on the Rise

A Wellington-based franchise is to replace Auckland’s NZ Knights in the Australian A-League soccer competition beginning in August. Wellington Phoenix will be the eighth team in the 2007-2008 series, which runs for 21 rounds up until next…

All Black Up-and-comers

NZ has won the world under-19 rugby championship for the first time since 2004, with a decisive 31-7 victory over South Africa in Belfast, Ireland. “To win tonight, and also so resoundingly, was just fantastic,” said NZ…

NZ Triathletes Dominate at Ishigaki

NZ athletes dominated at Japan’s Ishigaki Island World Cup series triathlon, despite their lack of a gold medal finish. Bevan Docherty, Kris Gemmell, Shane Reed and Andrew Hewitt finished second, third, fourth and sixth in the…

More Gold for Kendall

NZ sporting legend Barbara Kendall is back in the spotlight after winning the women’s RS:X windsurfing event at the Princess Sofia Trophy regatta in Palma, Spain. The three-time Olympic medallist was also named the overall Princess…

Surf Secrets Revealed

Artificial Surf Reefs (ASR) co-founder Kerry Black has been profiled by CNN. Black, a former Waikato University professor, has spent the last few years perfecting the world’s first fully adjustable computer-controlled reef. He expects the technology to…