Women Enter Sevens Fold
The success of New Zealand’s rugby teams will create high expectations on the country’s women as they embark on the first International Rugby Board (IRB) women’s sevens world series in November, coach Sean Horan…
Tag Archives: The Olympics
Valerie Achieves Olympic Goal
Valerie Adams has had her silver Olympic medal upgraded to gold after rival Nadzeya Ostapchuk of Belarus had failed a drug test. Ostapchuk’s disqualification means Adams is now the holder of back-to-back Olympic golds…
Full Paddle Ahead for Medal
Full paddle ahead for medalNew Zealander Lisa Carrington, 23, stormed to victory in the inaugural K1 200 on Dorney Lake at the London Olympics to give her country its first women’s Olympic gold medal…
Serene Sailing Wins Gold
New Zealand sailors Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie fulfilled a pledge to go one better than the men by winning gold in sailing’s 470 class at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Aleh and Powrie…
Olympic BMX Dream Comes True
BMX rider Sarah Walker, 24, has won an Olympic silver medal for New Zealand. Walker, who is from Kawerau, finished fourth over the three-race semi-final to win her place in the final. She barely…
Olympians Visit UK Marae
The New Zealand Olympic team paid a visit to the Hinemihi marae in Surrey, England. Hinemihi was brought to Surrey by Lord Onslow, the former Governor of New Zealand, as a souvenir of his…
Lapping Up the Medals
New Zealand supporters in London have been enjoying the unusual experience of being ahead in Olympic medals over Australia. At Kiwi House Jessica Middleton, 24, wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the colours of the…
Induction into Hall of Fame
Three-time Olympic gold medallist Opunake-born Peter Snell will be among the 24 inaugural members of the International Association of Athletics Federation’s (IAAF) Hall of Fame. Snell won the 800m at the 1960 Olympics and…
Golden Attitude Prevails
New Zealand’s rowing heroes Dunedin-born Hamish Bond, 26, and Hastings-born Eric Murray, 30, maintained their three-year unbeaten run by winning gold in the men’s pair at the Olympic rowing regatta. Bond and Murray, one…
Medals in Boats and on Horses
New Zealanders Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan have won an Olympic gold medal in the London 2012 men’s double rowing. Double sculls pair Cohen and Sullivan had the eyes of the nation on them…
Win Over Rivals in London
The Black Sticks have beaten Australia at the London Olympics 1-0 in the opening game of the women’s hockey tournament, a first win over their rivals in Games history. The Black Sticks rode on…
Watch Out on Dorney Lake
New Zealand rowing pair Hamish Bond and Eric Murray are not fully satisfied heading into the London Olympics. Murray says they’ve produced some fast races “but I don’t think we have showed how fast…
Hopes for Gold at Olympic Stadium
Like many of the more than 40 Olympians with Michigan ties who’ll compete during the next few weeks at the London Games, New Zealander Nick Willis — who represented the University of Michigan in…
Sheer Grit and Determination
New Zealand cyclist Alison Shanks, 29, is profiled in The Wall Street Journal, which introduces athletes from around the world competing in the 2012 London Olympics. “New Zealand’s world champion individual pursuit…
Fern Hopes for Place in London
Football Ferns goalkeeper Aucklander Aroon Clansey, 26, who currently plays for English FA Women’s Super League club Liverpool Ladies, is hoping to be in the New Zealand team who will face Cameroon in the…
On From London to Rio
Despite pushing his body to breaking point for years five-times world rowing champion Mahe Drysdale cannot resist the lure of an Olympic gold medal. While Drysdale looks forward to the day he can eschew…
Willis Readies for London
One of New Zealand’s “most revered track and field athletes”, Nick Willis, 29, will defend his Olympic silver medal in the men’s 1500m run at the 2012 Games in London. The London Olympics will…
Ballistic on AFL Boundaries
New Zealand Olympic hopeful Aucklander Veronica Torr, 24, who is on the brink of qualifying for the London Games in the heptathlon, has been head-hunted by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a boundary…
Emotional Provocateur
Auckland singer-songwriter Sam RB’s song Stand Tall has been chosen from more than 300 entries as the theme of the New Zealand contingent at the London Olympics. The New Zealand Olympic Committee invited songwriters…
Gifted Goalkeeper Qualifies
Christchurch-born Michael O’Keeffe, a junior goalkeeper for Connecticut’s Fairfield University soccer team the Stags, has qualified to play in the 2012 London Summer Olympics as a member of the New Zealand Under-23 team. According…
With A Vision For More Gold
New Zealand gold medal eventer Mark Todd, 56, one of only two New Zealanders to compete in six Olympics, says he will ride at his seventh Olympics with a horse “as good as any…
Long Island Hopes For Olympics
New Zealand runner Leanora Petrina, 29, who lives in Bayport, Long Island, is profiled in local publication Long Island Business News. “I run anything from 1500-5km on the track, including the steeplechase, Petrina says. “On…
Wooly Olympic Potential
New Zealand Federated Farmers says sheep shearing has the potential to become an Olympic demonstration sport. The “time has come to elevate shearing’s sporting status to the ultimate world stage,” the organisation said. New…
Dual-International In Charge
Allrounder Suzie Bates, 24, has been appointed captain of the White Ferns succeeding Aimee Watkins, who retired in July. “I knew there was a chance of leading this team but there are obviously other…
Audain’s Professional Legacy
Thirty years ago this month Auckland-born Olympic middle and long distance athlete Anne Audain accepted $1, for winning a 15km race in Oregon, launching a lucrative road-racing career while forever changing the sport of…
Censored views
The work of New Zealand photographer and artist Bruce Connew features on the cover of the latest issue of UK literary magazine Granta (#105, Lost and Found, Spring 2009). Censored 2008 is a photographic artwork that…
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…
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…
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…
To Henley Royal
New Zealand Rowing has confirmed that after the Munich World Cup in June, the entire team will move to England to train at Dorney Lake for Britain’s summer Henley Royal Regatta. The trip, between…
Rugby’s Return
Rugby Sevens might be only seven years off when it comes to the Olympics, thanks to an effort to reinstate the sport spearheaded by the Oceania National Olympic Committee. During a recent committee meeting…
New Black Cap
Newly-appointed Black Caps manager Dave Currie – chef de mission of the New Zealand team for the 2004 and 2008 Olympics campaigns and the 2002 and 2006 Commonwealth Games – has worn many hats…
Four Years Pays Off
Athens silver medallist triathlete Bevan Docherty, 31, took third place and a bronze medal in the men’s triathlon at the Beijing Olympics and is determined to try for the gold in four years time….
Gold in the Bird’s Nest
Auckland athlete Valerie Vili, 23, has won a gold medal in shot put at the Beijing Olympics, the first for New Zealand in track and field since John Walker’s gold in the 1500m at…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Wundercoach
Richard Tonks has been named 2005 FISA Coach of the Year by the International Rowing Federation. Tonks, himself a silver medallist for NZ at the 1972 Munich Olympics, is the man behind a spate of recent rowing…
Gold Rush
NZ won a staggering four gold medals at the world rowing championships in Kaizu, Japan. The unbeatable Evers-Swindell twins (Georgina and Caroline) won the women’s double sculls, Nathan Twaddle and George Bridgewater the men’s pairs, Nicky Coles…
LIFE Photographer
Born in Levin 1916, educated Auckland Grammar, George Silk became a combat photographer for Australian Ministry of Information, covering the battles at close hand in the Middle East, North Africa, Greece and New Guinea. He joined…
A Year in Review
Canadian Runners Web featured an email from Kiwi triathlete Bevan Docherty in its news section. “It’s been one of the most amazing years for me, a World cup Win, a World Championship Win, Taking the No.1 ranking…
Wyatt Makes it Four
Jonathan Wyatt won his fourth mountain running world title at Sauze d’Oulx in northern Italy only a week after competing at the Athens Games. His previous victories were in France (1998), Germany (200), and Austria (2002)….
Top 6 for Black Sticks
The NZ women’s hockey team’s strong showing at the Athens Olympics earned them the final place in November’s six-team Champions Trophy in Argentina. The Black Sticks went to Athens ranked ninth in the world and finished in…
Making History with Music
NZ composer John Psathas provided much of the music for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Athens Games, including the climactic moment when the Olympic flame was lit. Born in NZ to Greek…
Down but Not Out
Greg Henderson won the 6.25 mile New York City Cycling Championship in miserable conditions, despite suffering a crash half way through the race. “Anything can happen in a crash. It all depends on how you land,”…
Pure Gold
NZ’s Olympic team kept viewers at home on tenterhooks, waiting until the second week of the Games to begin the medal haul. Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell took gold in the double sculls rowing, Sarah Ulmer beat…
Pre-Games Victory
Auckland athlete Nathan Richmond won his first ITU World Cup triathlon in Newfoundland, Canada. The Corner Brook event is regarded as one of the toughest on the international circuit. “This win proves that I am a worthy…
Sticking it to the Competition
Both the NZ men’s and women’s hockey teams have qualified for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. It will be the fourth time the women’s team (the Black Sticks) have competed at the Games. Says goalkeeper Helen…
Stars in the Making
NZ athletes contributed to an international domination of America’s National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Indoor Championships in mid-March. Kim Smith – running for Providence – lapped all but one of her competitors in the 5,000m, breaking a…
Twin Engined Sculls
Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell received the International Rowing Federation’s Female Rower or Crew of the Year Award at the annual FISA Coaches Conference in Athens this month. The twins won their second consecutive world championships title in…
One of Our Originals
NZ’s oldest Olympic athlete, javelin thrower Stan Lay, has died aged 96. Lay finished in seventh place at the 1924 Athens Olympics, and two years later won gold at the Empire Games in Canada. He was…
Captain Kirk
Aucklander Kirk Penney is one of the brightest stars on the American college basketball circuit. Penney captains and is the highest point-scorer for the Wisconsin Badgers, a team he has lead into the top 16. A…
King of Greece Honours King of Sailing
Sir Peter Blake has been posthumously awarded the prestigious Olympic Order for his services to sport. Honorary IOC member, the former King Constantine of Greece, presented the award to Blake’s wife, Pippa, at the Emsworth Sailing Club….
