Californian Yellow Jersey
Cyclist Greg Henderson has claimed the third stage of the Tour of California completing the 192.2km road race from Auburn to Modesto in 5 hours 14 minutes 29 seconds. Juan Jose Haedo of Argentina…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Breakers Outdo Taipans
The New Zealand Breakers have thrashed the Cairns Taipans 71-53 to claim Australia’s National Basketball League title in front of a capacity crowd at Auckland’s North Shore Events Centre. The Breakers are the first…
Winning Race Plan
Whangarei-based professional triathlete Samantha Warriner’s greatest moment came just three months after undergoing surgery to fix a career-threatening case of super ventricular tachycardia. Somehow fortune and great doctors smiled on Warriner….
Smeltz Joins Perth Glory
New Zealand international Shane Smeltz has “ended weeks of speculation about his future by joining Perth Glory as the club’s marquee player,” Peter Kogoy writes for The Australian. “In one of the recruiting coups…
London Olympics Prospect
Christchurch-born professional triathlete Andrea Hewitt has placed third in the Dextro Energy ITU World Championship Series triathlon in Sydney. Hewitt is currently ranked sixth in the world. Hewitt, who was sixth after the 15-metre…
Mooloolaba First Place
Whangarei-born Nicky Samuels has won the Mooloolaba Triathlon ITU World Cup event beating a strong international field taking her first victory at this level. Samuels led from the start of the second-stage 4km bike…
Jimmy Choux a Winning Freak
Hastings jockey Jonathan Riddell “is actually making some money after years of racing for scraps,” Andrew Eddy writes for The Age. Earlier this month, a cheque of $65, was deposited into his account after…
Breakers Beat the Kings
Star shooter Kirk Penney netted 26 points for the New Zealand Breakers against the Sydney Kings in the Australian National Basketball League (NBL), with the New Zealand team winning 91-86 in Auckland. Both sides…
Erakovic Wins Title in Mexico
New Zealand tennis No. 2 Marina Erakovic won her 1th ITF singles title in the final of the US$25, ($NZ34,) Irapuato Challenger tournament in Mexico on March 14. The 23-year-old, ranked 287 in the…
Downhill Game-Changer
Auckland-based Mike Hodgkinson’s 57kg off-road Mountain Moto is a “game changer” according to motorcycle blog 2Wheel Tuesday, and “takes the best of downhill mountain bikes, paired with a 125cc engine making for an unbelievable…
Learning Curls From the Best
Nelson Ede is the development officer for the only dedicated indoor curling rink in the Southern Hemisphere, which is located in Naseby, Central Otago. Ede is currently in Canada at the 211 Tim Hortons…
Henderson Aims for Yellow
Professional cyclist Dunedin-born Greg Henderson won the second stage of the Paris-Nice cycling race in Amilly, France, on March 7, outsprinting Australia’s Matthew Goss and Russia’s Denis Galimzyanov. “It was a very fast sprint…
Dynamic Energy
Aucklander Bob Storey, a former army officer and rugby player, was one of 13 rookies racing at the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Anchorage, Alaska, held over the weekend of March 5-6. Storey…
Goal Overshadowed
West Ham defender Auckland-born Winston Reid has spoken of his sadness at the deadly earthquake that rocked Christchurch hours after the Hammers had booked their place in the last eight of the FA Cup…
Jet-ski World Record
An Auckland man has set a world record for the distance covered by jet-ski within a 24 hour period. Jeremy Burfoot rode his Sea-Doo jet-ski 2,287km during his record breaking session on Lake Karapiro….
Running to a New Record
A New Zealander has successfully run the fastest half-marathon by a woman on American soil. Kimberley Smith won the women’s section of the New Orleans half marathon by over three minutes, completing the course…
Californian Signings
New Zealand internationals Simon Elliot and Andrew Boyens have been signed with Californian team Chivas USA. Elliott, a standout for New Zealand at the 21 FIFA World Cup, joins Chivas on a free transfer…
Football friendly
The All Whites will play against Japan and China in March, beginning its build-up towards qualifying for the 214 World Cup in Brazil. Coach Ricki Herbert said that New Zealand will play China in…
Kiwi in Red Sox
A New Zealander teenager is the latest player to be signed to the American baseball empire, the Boston Red Sox. 17-year-old Te Wera Bishop was approached by Pacific Rim scout Jon Deeble after he…
Star in the Making
Twenty-year-old Declan O’Donnell scored a hat trick of tries for New Zealand in the Wellington final of the IRB Sevens World Series helping the team beat England 29-14. “If I see a star in…
Total Stand-out
Whangarei basketballer Megan Craig, who was Kamo High School’s Sportswoman of the Year in 28, is now at the University at Albany, studying business management. At a listed 6-foot-9, when Craig takes the court…
New Face of League
Wests Tiger Benji Marshall “is the new face of rugby league” according to The Sydney Morning Herald, having been “chosen as the man to front the code as the game prepares for a new…
Nice Uppercut
In a unanimous points decision Sonny Bill Williams has won his third professional boxing bout in six-rounds against Sydney forklift truck driver Scott Lewis at the Gold Coast Convention Centre. Williams took the first…
Springboard for MLS
Auckland football player Michael Boxall has made the first pick in the supplemental draft for Vancouver team the Whitecaps. Boxall said of his selection: “Vancouver’s a great place to come to, and I’m excited…
Pursuit Win for Trio
New Zealand’s women — Rushlee Buchanan, Kaytee Boyd and Jaime Nielsen — took gold in the pursuit event in Beijing to strengthen their position at the top of the World Cup rankings. The New…
Young Guns Qualify
The Young All Whites have qualified for the FIFA U-17 World Cup Mexico 211 beating Tahiti in Auckland 2-. Cameron Howieson had coach Steve Cain’s side off to a dream start with a long-range…
Keat Makes a Splash
“ midfielder Daniel Keat looks to join the ranks of those En Zedders who first made a splash playing in Major League Soccer,” Bleacher Report’s Jo-Ryan Salazar writes. “And he gets to do it…
Sydney’s Secret Weapon
Thirty-four-year-old former Olympian basketballer and Albanian coach Dunedin-born Mark Dickel recently played at point guard for the Sydney Kings. The Sydney Morning Herald asked: “Is it a publicity stunt or the ultimate act of…
Sweet Start to Season
Dunedin cyclist Alison Shanks, 28, has won two gold medals at the UCI World Cup in Cali, Colombia at the Alcides Nieto Patiño Velodrome taking first place in the 3m individual pursuit and in…
Benji Bags the Boot
New Zealand Test captain and Wests Tigers star five-eighth Benji Marshall, 25, has won the 21 Rugby League Golden Boot Award. Now in its 25th year, the prestigious award is presented to the game’s…
Open for Business
The first of New Zealand’s ‘Great Rides’, the 64km St James Cycle Trail, has been opened by the Minister of Conservation Kate Wilkinson. This section is the first fully competed track in the Nga…
Marks a trail blazer
Auckland-born Sean Marks, 35, the first New Zealander to play in the NBA, has been signed with Portland’s Trail Blazers. Marks came out of the University of California-Berkeley and was drafted 44th overall by…
Chunder Champs
Rotorua was the host of this year’s Singlespeed World Championships (SSWC) held over Labour Weekend with some 9 competitors clad in fancy dress riding mountain bikes over the 4km course with the added bonus…
Super Contract for Tony
Former New Zealand international utility player Motu Tony, 29, has signed with UK Super League club Wakefield Trinity Wildcats. Samoan-born Tony has had spells with rugby union clubs Hull and Nottingham since, as well…
English Physicality
New Zealand striker Greg Draper, who is currently under contract with Hampshire team Basingstoke Town, “has had a big hand in recent good form, finding the back of the net eight times…
Professional Profile
Hamilton-born professional triathlete Keegan Williams, 3, is profiled by online triathlon magazine Slowtwitch. Perhaps the best sign Williams might yet follow in the footsteps of legendary New Zealand ironman Cameron Brown was his 21…
In Memory of a Mother
Auckland weightlifter Stanislav Chalaev won a silver medal in the under-15kg class at the 21 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. Russian-born Chalaev lifted 15kg in the snatch and 184kg in the clean and jerk. The…
Strength in Numbers
Shot put champion Valerie Adams took gold in Delhi with a winning throw of 2.47m and her coach Didier Poppe predicts Adams is capable of yet another metre. She destroyed a decidedly average field…
Medals on Wheels
Dunedin cyclist Alison Shanks, 26, claimed New Zealand’s first gold medal in the women’s 3m individual pursuit final at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi earning glory over the strong Australian team. The 29 world…
Los Angeles Win
New Zealander Bevan Docherty, 33, has won the 11th annual Los Angeles Triathlon finishing in 1 hour, 5 minutes and 21 seconds, which was 13 seconds ahead of runner-up Javier Gomez of Spain. A…
On Board Solo
Rob Thomson, 28, a Canterbury University arts graduate from Christchurch, has completed the longest unassisted skateboard journey ever made, travelling for 462 days over 12,000km from Leysin, Switzerland across Europe, North America and China…
Common Goal in Delhi
Gymnast Misha Koudinov, 19, hopes he can help New Zealand take its first ever men’s team medal at the 19th Commonwealth Games in Delhi. “My goal is to make all of my routines as…
Wooing the shuttle
Auckland badminton player Joe Wu, 24, who currently holds the triple national title holder in the sport, is representing the country at the 21 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. Originally born in Taiwan, Joe immigrated…
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
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
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…
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
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
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
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
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…
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…
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…
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
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
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…
