Ali Riley Optimistic About Women’s Football
While Ali Riley is certainly grateful for everything soccer has provided her on and off the field, the Angel City FC and New Zealand women’s national team captain is even more excited about what…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
UFC’s Israel Adesanya Fights on His Terms
New Zealander Israel Adesanya has cleared out most of his challengers and has faced criticism for some fights lacking flashy knockouts. “It’s a high-level game we play, but not everyone who watches is high-level,”…
Hong Kong Trail Designed by Will Hayward Opens
The 92km Tinworth Trail, dedicated to a former trail race organiser who died two years ago and designed by New Zealander Will Hayward, runs from the North East of Hong Kong to the South…
Self-Transcendence Fuels Susan Marshall on Long Run
Aucklander Susan Marshall, 38, has been in New York City, competing in the world’s longest certified footrace, the Sri Chinmoy Self Transcendence 3100-Mile Race Jonathon Gul, ABC News reports. Marshall’s days began at 6am in…
Four Golds for Commonwealth Champion Aaron Gate
Aaron Gate of New Zealand had an incredibly successful few days at the beginning of August, Cycling Weekly features writer Tom Thewlis reports. The Auckland-born rider, 31, won three track gold medals at the…
2022 Commonwealth Games NZ’s Most Successful
“New Zealand’s athletes achieved the country’s greatest ever medal haul at this year’s Commonwealth Games. Now that the Games has concluded, it’s only right that we celebrate their achievements,” Radio New Zealand declared. “The athletes…
Adventurer Sophie Marsh off to Herefordshire
New Zealand-born adventurer Sophie Marsh, 28, is heading for Herefordshire in the West Midlands of the UK after travelling the globe completing epic challenges, Michael Eden reports for the Hereford Times. Marsh begins her journey…
Tour de France Dream Ensues for Henrietta Christie
Pro cyclist Henrietta Christie grew up idolising the Tour de France. Now the 20-year-old New Zealander finally gets to participate, as a member of the Human Powered Health team. Wellington-born Christie talks about participating…
Curling Legend Peter Becker Makes Hall of Fame
Peter Becker is the closest thing to curling royalty in New Zealand and he’s finally being recognised for it, 1 News reports. Becker has become the first New Zealander to be named in the…
How Middle-Distance Runner Nick Willis Trains
New Zealander Nick Willis, 39, “who has been at the sharp end of middle-distance running for over two decades”, speaks to the UK’s Athletics Weekly magazine about how he trains in an article by…
Squash Superman Paul Coll Set on World Domination
Gravity-defying dive after lung-busting lunge, they called him ‘Superman’ as he captivated crowds around the globe. Now, history-maker, Greymouth-born Paul Coll, is on top of the world at number one and has his sights…
Skier Jess Hotter Out of Reach in Switzerland
Extreme sports media company Teton Gravity Research Max Ritter reports on New Zealand skier Jess Hotter’s big win in Switzerland, where the 28-year-old from Ohakune came first as one of the 2022 Freeride World…
UFC’s Israel Adesanya in His Own Words
A world-class striker, an elite entertainer and an enigma on the mic – the mention of the name Israel Adesanya elicits a number of opinions from MMA fans. But for the 32-year-old UFC middleweight…
Runner Anne Audain Triumphed Over Adversity
“By the time Anne Audain came to challenge for a place in the world record books, at the age of 26 in 1982, the New Zealander had already overcome a lifetime worth of trials…
Olympic Shot Put Star Valerie Adams Retires
Two-time Olympic women’s shot put champion Rotorua-born Dame Valerie Adams has announced her retirement at the age of 37, ESPN reports. Adams also won Olympic silver and bronze medals and was a four-time world champion,…
Freestyle Prodigy Nico Porteous on How to Fly
It’s difficult to describe what it’s like in a superpipe – the biggest class of halfpipe, used in professional competition – without actually standing in one. The feeling is unnerving, Nick Remsen writes for…
Wānaka’s Nico Porteous Takes Gold in Beijing
Nico Porteous has dropped the curtain on New Zealand’s greatest Winter Games, overcoming the elements and a field of established champions to win the Olympic freeski halfpipe title, Bryan Armen Graham writes for The…
Zoi Sadowski-Synnott Wins Winter Olympics NZ-First
Wanaka’s Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, 20, stood on top of the podium in women’s snowboard slopestyle at the Beijing Olympics last week, winning the first-ever Winter Games gold medal for New Zealand, Reuters reports. Cheers erupted in…
Nico Porteous Claims Freeski Halfpipe World Cup Win
Just days after recovering from Covid-19, New Zealand’s Nico Porteous, 20, has claimed victory at the Freeski Halfpipe World Cup in California, Stuff reports. This was a maiden World Cup triumph for the Wanaka skier…
Track Hero Nick Willis Tries Sub-4:00 Again in NY
Over the course of five Olympics, the New Zealand mid-distance runner Nick Willis has become a track and field legend. At 38, he recently embarked on an unprecedented quest. GQ went trackside to witness…
Newcastle United Sign Striker Chris Wood
New Zealand striker Chris Wood has readily admitted he never envisaged a club triggering the £25m release clause in his contract at Burnley but, once Newcastle United activated it, he felt powerless to say…
World Jockey of the Year is James McDonald
Never mind Frankie Dettori or Irad Ortiz, Christophe Lemaire or Joel Rosario. And never mind Ryan Moore, who has just been named the Longines World’s Best Jockey. No, the Jockey of the Year for…
Commonwealth Games CE Katie Sadleir Has Big Plans
The Commonwealth Games could undergo “dramatic change” by the middle of the next decade, according to its new chief executive, New Zealander Katie Sadleir, BBC sports editor Dan Roan reports. Future hosts will be given…
Jiu-Jitsu Coach John Danaher Learnt from the Best
“Brazilian jiu-jitsu has been compared to chess, philosophy, even psychoanalysis. But its real appeal is on the mat,” Stephanie Hayes writes for The Atlantic in a story about influential mixed martial arts artist Royce…
Verry Ellegant Storms Home to Win Melbourne Cup
New Zealand-bred bay Verry Ellegant won this year’s A$8 million Melbourne Cup at Flemington Racecourse, storming home in the final straight to win by three-and-a-half lengths from local favourite Incentivise, Reuters journalist Ian Ransom reports. The…
You Can’t Stop Sonny Bill Williams From Shining
A star in rugby union and league, and now a professional boxer, Auckland-born Bill Williams, 36, reveals his inner torments and tells The Guardian’s Donald McRae what drives him on. “I get pretty emotional talking about it,…
Tokyo Paralympians Return Victorious
New Zealand’s Paralympians have returned from Tokyo with a medal count of 12, including six gold. It was the athletics and swimming show for New Zealand, with all of the medals coming from those…
Squash Player Paul Coll Wins Historic British Title
New Zealand’s Paul Coll, 29, is the Allam British Open champion 2021 producing a formidable performance to come from one game down and get his hands on the iconic trophy, the PSA World Tour…
Commonwealth Games Chief Named as Katie Sadleir
New Zealander Katie Sadleir, currently general manager of women’s rugby at World Rugby, has been appointed the first female chief executive of the Commonwealth Games Federation, the BBC reports. Sadleir, 57, will play a leading…
Meet Paralympic Cyclist and Adventurer Steve Bate
Having become the first person with visual impairment to scale El Capitan, New Zealand-born Steve Bate, 43, is no stranger to adventure. The Tokyo Paralympic Games are but one challenge on his horizon –…
New Zealand Olympians Triumph in Tokyo
New Zealand is basking in the glow of its greatest ever Olympic medal haul, departing Tokyo with 20 medals – seven gold, six silver and seven bronze, and a new champion, Lisa Carrington, who…
NZ Speed Flyers Swoop in Extreme Sport Doco
New Zealand speed flyers Jamie Lee and Malachi Templeton are two extreme-sports thrill-seekers who feature in the documentary, Reset, which is directed by Frenchman Thierry Donard, considered “the Fellini of adventure film-making”. “Speed flying,” according to…
CrossFit Laura Clifton Wisconsin-Bound
Twenty-six-year-old Laura Clifton, who runs a gym with her fiancée in Melbourne, will represent New Zealand at the 2021 NOBULL CrossFit Games on from 27 July until 1 August in Wisconsin, United States. Although Clifton qualified…
Weightlifter Laurel Hubbard a Reluctant Trailblazer
Aucklander Laurel Hubbard, 43, is preparing to become the first transgender athlete to compete at the Olympics, reigniting debate on one of the most divisive issues in sport, Agence France-Presse reports for a story…
How to Become a Tennis No 1 by Anthony Wilding
In the 14 May 1912 edition of The Guardian newspaper, champion New Zealand tennis player Anthony Wilding’s book, On the Court and Off, was reviewed. That article is republished 109 years on, as part…
Boxing Now Sonny Bill-Williams’ Main Focus
Attending a dinner in Sydney, breaking his fast at the mid-point of the month of Ramadan, Auckland-born Sonny Bill Williams is much in demand – from the hosts of the event and Sydney’s Pacific…
World Cup Giant Slalom Win for Alice Robinson
An aggressive second run lifted New Zealand teenager Alice Robinson ahead of American Mikaela Shiffrin to win a giant slalom that ended the women’s World Cup ski season recently in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. The Associated…
Scrabble King Nigel Richards a Great Enigma
With the Australian Scrabble Championships held over Easter weekend, The Guardian’s Emma Kemp profiled both young and old players competing for the title. When the name of world champion New Zealander Nigel Richards is…
Dominant Victory for Māori Ferns in Townsville
NZ Māori Ferns “delivered an emphatic 24-0 win over the Indigenous All Stars” in “a thoroughly one-sided” contest played out in Townsville, Todd Balym writes for NRL News. Not only did the Māori side keep…
Fifa Exec Sarai Bareman Understands the Margins
From her time as a player on the Samoan women’s national team to becoming deputy secretary general of the tiny Oceania Football Confederation, few people are better suited to addressing the challenges faced by…
Shearing World Record Broken by Megan Whitehead
Gore shearer Megan Whitehead, 24, recently took on a nine-hour-long challenge officiated by the World Sheep Shearing Records Society, shearing 661 strong wool lambs in the time period to beat the previous solo women’s…
Brooklyn Nets GM Sean Marks a Slam Dunk
General manager of basketball team the Brooklyn Nets, New Zealander Sean Marks, 45, ended up getting the job and producing a miracle turnaround while transforming Brooklyn into a prime destination that superstars Kevin Durant and…
Football Talent Liberato Cacace Moves to Belgium
Wellington-born Liberato Cacace, 20, wants to imitate childhood hero Paolo Maldini by one day donning the captain’s armband for his national team, South China Morning Post sports journalist Andrew McNicol writes. The left wing-back, who…
UFC Superstar Israel Adesanya Makes It Look Easy
UFC 4 video game cover star Nigerian-New Zealander Israel Adesanya, 31, tweets “what EA curse?” after emphatic victory over Paulo Costa on Fight Island, Andrew Whitelaw writes in his South China Morning Post column,…
Auckland Student Aysha Hussan Aims High
At just 14, track athlete and netballer Aysha Hussan has already achieved so much, including as the New Zealand face on the Muslim Women in Sports Powerlist 2020, alongside 34 other women involved…
Bayern Munich and Nuremberg Share Sarpreet Singh
It has been just over a year since Sarpreet Singh, 21, officially joined the Bundesliga giants, Bayern Munich, at number 10. The former Wellington Phoenix player is not only the first footballer of Indian…
NBL’s Hawks Sign Teen Rising Star Max Darling
Australian professional basketball team The Hawks has added one of New Zealand’s top young players for the 2020-21 NBL season, signing forward Max Darling to a three-year deal, Olgun Uluc reports for ESPN. Like every…
Looking Back at a Squash Legacy With Susan Devoy
In recognition of Rotorua-born squash player Susan Devoy’s exalted status PSA website caught up with the sport’s only ‘Dame’, who ranks only behind the great Heather McKay and Malaysian legend Nicol David in the major…
UFC Champ Israel Adesanya on Cover of Video Game
The newest Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) video game has been announced – and on the cover, is New Zealander Israel Adesanya (pictured right). ESPN’s Marc Raimondi reports. Middleweight champion Adesanya and American welterweight star Jorge…
Joseph Parker Self-Isolation’s Greatest Showman
Professional heavyweight boxer Joseph Parker, 28, has proved himself one of the great surprises to rise from the pandemic-induced global lockdown, according to UK-based The Sportsman. While the rest of the world turned to…
Football Forward Katie Rood Embraces Veganism
“I have gone from five years of continuous injuries to five years with almost nothing,” professional footballer Katie Rood, 27, tells The Guardian’s Suzanne Wrack. The change? In 2015 the New Zealand international and…
When John Walker Ran the Forgotten Mile in 1977
Everyone remembers the cricket but few recall the day New Zealand running hero John Walker took to the track in Melbourne, Adam Collins writes for The Guardian’s weekly cricket email, The Spin. It started with…
Looking Back at the Wimbledon of Anthony Wilding
Now that the Wimbledon Championships have officially been cancelled because of the outbreak of the coronavirus and COVID-19 disease, Forbes looks at other years the world’s most famous tennis event was disrupted, including the…
Blyth Tait Calls Time on Second Eventing Career
Former Olympic and world champion New Zealander Blyth Tait has retired from eventing for a second time, aged 58, Britain’s Horse & Hound magazine reports. Tait had had his eye on a fifth Olympic Games…
Corbin Strong Cycles From Strength to Strength
Southlander Corbin Strong, 19, was laid up in a back brace two years ago, stitches holding together a gaping wound in his leg. He had been training on a back road when a car…
Tennis Freshman Kate Bolton Making Friends in US
California State University, Stanislaus, women’s tennis has a new face – and a new voice – in 19-year-old Wellington-born freshman Kate Bolton, local newspaper, The Modesto Bee reports. Bolton, who attended Queen Margaret College, has…
