Shock Draw with Champs
The All Whites have astonished the international football fraternity drawing 1-1 with World Cup holders Italy in South Africa. Reuters has put the result in its top 1 World Cup shocks, the only draw…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Dame Kiri’s Red Card
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is the perfect antidote for World Cup football fever according to Guardian reviewer Sam Woollaston. “There isn’t much that can distract me from the World Cup. But Dame Kiri managed…
Artful Carrier
The Dunedin-designed Freeload rack is included in a Los Angeles Times article called “Gear: Better bike accessories”. “These new accessories make on- and off-road touring a breeze, indoor training more realistic, fast rides more…
Point Taken
The All Whites have earned their first-ever point at a World Cup scoring a last-minute equalising point against Slovakia in Rustenburg, South Africa. Defender Winston Reid, who had been beaten in the air by…
Monster Trophies
One of the world’s largest deer, the red stag, was imported into New Zealand from Scotland more than a century ago and has since flourished. Now they are popular game for North American hunters….
Round Versus Oval
“All Whites manager, Ricki Herbert, believes football has overtaken rugby in the popularity stakes in New Zealand, as it briefly did 28 years ago when the team’s Spanish sojourn coincided with a disenchantment with…
Great Win for Whites
The All Whites, the world’s 78th-ranked team, have beaten the world’s 15th-ranked team, Serbia 1— in a World Cup warm-up match in Klagenfurt, Austria. New Zealand football coach Ricki Herbert has said…
Effortless Shot
Teenage sharp shooter New Zealander Tiffany Piper, who is ranked third in the world for all female shooters, recently competed in the American National Rifle Association National Action Pistol Championship in Hallsville, MO. Piper…
Wacky Winter Stunts
Queenstown’s Winter Festival hits the southern town for the 35th year this June with an estimated 6, revellers expected to attend the week-long festivities. While there are big-ticket items — free concerts (Dragon headline…
Football Mayhem
“New Zealand is in the grip of World Cup fever and while the likes of Rory Fallon and Chris Killen might barely raise a glance as players in Plymouth or Middlesbrough, they cannot walk…
Soccer Satire
In this tongue-in-cheek article for sports site Bleacher Report, Eoin Redahan examines New Zealand’s “dearth of WAGs”, instead listing examples in a slideshow of the country’s “beautiful celebrity countrywomen”, as the All Whites prepare…
Intimidation Tactics
Ahead of the 21 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, the All Whites are included in a Vanity Fair article about the 32 participating teams. The author apologises for “an earlier version of …
New Rules for Teen
Fifteen-year-old Waikato-born Kurt Heatherly “has the opportunity to be the first AFL player recruited directly from New Zealand”, writes Jake Niall for The Age. If Heatherly wears the brown and gold at AFL level,…
Ironman Gusto
Days after coming second in New Orleans, Aucklander Terenzo Bozzone this time crossed the finish line first winning the Memorial Hermann Ironman 70.3 Texas in Galveston. Bozzone, 25, stopped just before the finish line…
Phoenix Live On
Wellington Phoenix will remain in the A-League until the end of the 2015-16 season. Doubt over the team’s future emerged in November last year when AFC president Mohamed bin Hammam said he did not…
Heated Win
Whangarei-based Olympian Sam Warriner has won the Ironman 70.3 in New Orleans, “thanks to impressive half-marathon performance in the heat”. Despite coming off of the bike in fifth position, Warriner handled the early…
Lebanon for Baldwin
Former Tall Blacks coach Tab Baldwin has announced he has taken up the position as coach of Lebanon’s national team. Baldwin, 51, will gather his first squad together at the start of June in…
Mercury’s Avatar
“Lorraine Moller, now 53 and living in Boulder, Colorado, won the first marathon she ran — a race she hadn’t even intended to finish — and the next eight as well,” writes Barbara Matson…
Top Prospect Signed
Tall Blacks centre Rob Loe, 18, the youngest player on record to represent the Tall Blacks, has signed with Saint Louis University team Billikens. Loe will have four years of eligibility beginning with the…
Ahead of the Best
Taupo-born Olympic triathlete Bevan Docherty, 33, has won the opening race of the ITU Dextro Energy World Champs Series in Sydney. Docherty, a two-time Olympic medallist, pulled away from the chase pack halfway through…
Final Season Strength
Warriors prop Steve Price, 36, has announced he will retire at the end of the season. His battle-weary legs may have forced his hand, but it is a simple message inscribed on his wrist…
From Top to Bottom
Paeroa ultra-marathon runner Andrew Hedgeman, 22, has run the length of New Zealand in 28 days, averaging 80km a day, to become the first ever to complete the distance in under 30 days. He…
Heart-stopping Gold
Wanaka-based Adam Hall, 22, paralympian gold medallist alpine skier, never had any special treatment says his father dairy farmer Lindsay Hall upon Adam’s win in Vancouver at the 2010 Winter Games. “He never got…
Mile Win for Willis
Lower Hutt-born middle distance runner Nick Willis, 27, currently based in Michigan, has won the mile run at the 15th Boston Indoor Games. Willis crossed the finish line in a world leading time of…
Phoenix Survive Playoff
With Phoenix goal keeper Liam Reddy fending off an attack by Perth in a penalty shootout in front of a record crowd of 25,000 at the Cake Tin, the Wellington team prevailed 4-2 to…
Towards the Moon
Wellington mountain-running and marathon champion Melissa Moon, 40, won the women’s section of New York City’s annual Empire State Building Run-Up, passing 300 runners and ascending 1576 steps to the finish line in 13…
Beijing Top Spot
Southland sprinter Edward Dawkins, 20, took the men’s individual gold at the Beijing stop of the UCI track cycling World Cup. Dawkins claimed the sprint title with two straight wins against Frenchman Michael D’almeida…
Musher Says Hike
Christchurch dog sledder Curt Perano made the list of top mushers for the John Beargrease 150-mile mid-distance sled dog race from Minnesota towns Duluth to Tofte. Perano and his wife, Fleur, began dog sledding…
Christie Gets Loud
Whangarei-raised New Zealand international midfielder Jeremy Christie, 27, has signed a two-year deal with Florida team the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the second tier North American Soccer League. Christie has won 20 caps for…
No Pain No Gain
Dunedin ironman Olympian Greg Henderson, 32, won stage two of the Jayco Bay Classic Criterium in Geelong. And when Henderson admits to hurting, you know he’s had a tough day. “The legs are absolutely…
Peter Snell Knighted
New Zealand three-time Olympic gold medalist Dr Peter Snell, who is based in Dallas, was honoured twice this year for his athletic career. Snell was knighted in August and his likeness commemorated in a…
Working to Live
New Zealander Michelle Clark-Smith, 32, who is now based in Durango, Colorado, is “building a semi-professional ski career for herself in tandem with her partner-in-crime and husband, longtime local photographer Scott DW Smith”. In…
Common Southern Goal
Twizel pilot Kylie Wakelin, 36, is one of eight women skiing to the South Pole in a trek to mark the anniversary of the Commonwealth grouping of 53 former British colonies. Skiing six to…
Shifting the Spotlight
New Zealand’s national soccer team, the All Whites, stole the limelight from its better-known rugby compatriots the All Blacks Saturday by securing a spot in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa – a…
All Whites Make History
The All Whites have qualified for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa beating Bahrain 1–nil at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington. Striker Rory Fallon, 27, scored the only goal of the game to…
Vili One of the Best
Rotorua-born shot putter Valerie Vili, 25, has been shortlisted as one of five female finalists vying for the 2009 World Athlete of the Year award. The winners will be announced during the 2009…
Monaco Reigns Supreme
New Zealand businessman and philanthropist Owen Glen’s three-year-old colt Monaco Consul, raced by jockey Corey Brown, has won the $A1.5 million Victoria Derby at Flemington, one of the most prestigious races in Australia. Monaco…
Reed Takes Crown
Palmerston North-born triathlete Matt Reed, 34, now based in Boulder, Colorado, has won the Toyota US Open triathlon and the Toyota Cup series crown having taken first place in the Dallas Triathlon on October…
Accuracy Under Fire
The Silver Ferns have won the inaugural six-nation Fastnet World Series against Jamaica in Manchester 32–27. The world number-two seed beat off stiff competition from an ever-improving Jamaican side to take the trophy at…
Winning Pair
New Zealand showjumper Samantha McIntosh, 34, has won the closing class of the day at Britain’s Horse of the Year show in Birmingham. McIntosh, who lives near Cologne, Germany, took the Zinc Management Trophy…
Back in the Ring
Heavyweight champion David Tua, 36, returned to the ring in “smashing fashion” knocking out fellow countryman Shane Cameron, 31, in the second round after seven seconds obliterating his opponent with combinations, crushing him with…
Hopes on Bahrain
If New Zealand’s All Whites beat Bahrain on October 10 they will compete in their first World Cup since 1982 in Spain. Dunedin-born defender Andrew Boyens, 26, who currently plays for the New York…
Jones Hits Big
Auckland teenager Sacha Jones has earned her biggest career win securing the US$25,000 ITF Darwin Challenger tournament with a 6–4, 6–1 win over Western Australian Bojana Bobusic. Showing a cool head in the mid-afternoon…
Lomu Gets Ripped
Former All Black great Jonah Lomu, 34, stepped back into the limelight coming second in the Men’s Open over-90kg class at the NZFBB Body Building Championships in Wellington, an exercise in weight-loss before making…
Chopping Champ
Thirty-six-year-old West Auckland lumberjack Jason Wynyard has won the overall title at the Stihl Timbersports Championships 2009 in Brienz, Switzerland. All participants were among the world elite, but the fastest and technically most perfect…
Bright Football Star
New Zealand striker Kris Bright, 22, has signed a two-year contract with England’s League Two Shrewsbury, and according to the BBC’s sports blogger Paul Fletcher, “in an era when many footballers are regarded as…
Tall Blacks Thump Boomers
New Zealand have beaten Australia 100–78 securing the top spot in the Oceania rankings and a place at the 2010 World Basketball Championships. New Zealand’s 22-point margin – its largest-ever win over Australia -…
Remarkable Wells
Wanaka skier Jossi Wells, 19, won a silver at the 100% Pure New Zealand Winter Games at the Remarkables in Queenstown for the freeski slopestyle event. Wells has a big profile in the United…
Mongolia on Horseback
Tekapo man Dave Murray, 29, now based in Perth, is one of four New Zealanders taking part in the 1000km-long Mongol Derby, which began on August 22 and runs for two weeks. The race…
Vili Victorious
World champion shot putter Aucklander Valerie Vili, 25, took the women’s title at the 12th World Athletic Championships in Berlin with a final throw of 20.44m. “I’m satisfied I could defend my title. Tonight…
Afghan Warrior Signs Up
Seventeen-year-old Afghan refugee Omar Slaimankhel has signed a two-year contract with the Vodafone Warriors and “after surviving the kind of dangers his family has endured, playing rugby league must seem like a stroll in…
Ready for Battle
New Zealand’s national softball team, The Black Sox, feature in the ‘Freeze Frame’ segment of ShortList magazine, performing the haka prior to their game against Denmark at last month’s World Men’s Softball Championship in…
Walker Looks to London
Kawerau BMX rider Sarah Walker, 21, took first place at the World BMX championships in the cruiser class (large wheel diameter) and the elite women’s title indoors at the Adelaide Showgrounds. Walker, a bronze…
Phenomenal in Peoria
Auckland athlete Kim Smith, 27, who is based in the United States, has won the 36th annual Steamboat Classic 4-mile women’s race in Peoria, Illinois, running the third fastest four-mile in history. Covering the…
Point of Pride
The All Whites have secured their first ever point at a FIFA tournament in the South African Confederations Cup. Though goal-less for all three matches played, the New Zealand team — dressed in black…
Positive Thinking
All Whites coach Ricki Herbert is confident the All Whites will earn their first ever point in a FIFA Confederations Cup this month in South Africa. “I think we have to believe it’s a…
