Elegant and with Punch
“A track-only racing car built without the restraints of racing regulations, the 12C Can-Am is based on the 12C GT3 racer – but it goes well beyond what the FIA…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
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…
Backcountry Kicks
“Imagine a contest where a helicopter lifts you to the highest peaks in Mount Aspiring National Park, and for two days, you get to ski powder, cliffs, and backcountry kickers,” Megan Michelson writes for…
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…
Room for Manoeuvre
Silver Ferns coach Waimarama Taumaunu is calling for youngsters to make a statement and secure a spot for the international season at the start of the team’s four-year cycle. Taumaunu, 49, has acknowledged inexperience…
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…
Netball Days Continue in US
New Zealander Shallyn Reeves captained the first American national netball team at the World University Netball Championships in South Africa this month. When Reeves finished high school in New Zealand and decided to continue…
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…
Surfing Strength Studied
A new study led by Oliver Farley from Auckland University of Technology (AUT) and published in the August issue of The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research looks at professional surfers to analyze the…
Triumphant in Sydney Debut
Eighteen-year-old Pukekohe jockey Alysha Collett took on the big boys of the Sydney racing scene at Rosehill and emerged triumphant riding the Australian-trained Matiya’s Pride. Collett was invited to Australia by Sydney’s premier trainer…
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…
Fresh Look for Blackcaps
Mike Hesson has been appointed head coach of the Blackcaps until the end of the 2015 World Cup. Hesson replaces John Wright. Hesson coached New Zealand A sides from 2008-11 and was head coach…
Yarns From the Crease
Former New Zealand cricket captain Jeremy Coney, who now works as a commentator for Sky TV and Test Match Special, shared stories from his career at Ledbury Cricket Club’s 175th Anniversary celebration dinner in…
Honours at Blackwolf Run
Fifteen-year-old world top-ranked amateur golfer, Aucklander Lydia Ko, has taken low amateur honours in the U.S. Women’s Open, at Blackwolf Run, Wisconsin. Although Ko is still an amateur, she has not only played with…
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…
Cricket Council President Named
New Zealander Alan Isaac has been appointed the eighth president of the International Cricket Council (ICC) succeeding India’s Sharad Pawar. Isaac, the former chairman of New Zealand Cricket, has spent the past two years…
Devastating ABs Stifle Irish
All Blacks Sam Cane and Sonny Bill Williams each scored double tries to inflict a record 60-0 defeat on Ireland and sweep their three-Test series. “We knew we had to start well and we…
Cheap Beginnings and a Title
Little Bridge, bred by Des Hawkins’ Llanhennock Trust at Wentwood Grange in Waikato, has became the first New Zealand-bred horse to win at the Royal Ascot meeting, outgunning a class field to…
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…
Golden Oars Row the Isar
New Zealand has taken third place at the World Rowing Cup in Munich, after winning three golds and six medals. Lightweight women’s double scullers Southland’s Louise Ayling and Rotorua’s Julia Edward took gold finishing…
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…
Savea Does Us Proud
The All Blacks trounced Ireland 42-10 at Eden Park in the first test since winning last year’s World Cup, with 21-year-old winger Julian Savea scoring three tries in his debut for New…
Drafted into the Major League
Auckland catcher Daniel Devonshire, 19, is “the talk of the Moose Jaw baseball community”, according to Saskatchewan local newspaper reporter Aaron Stuckel. “Devonshire is the third ever baseball player from New Zealand to be…
Flair on the Field
“If you are in search of a player that encapsulates a sense of flamboyancy, and something just a little out of the ordinary then, Sonny Bill Williams may just be your man,” Kate Rowan…
Remarkable Command on Tough Track
New Zealand IndyCar champion 28-time winner Scott Dixon, 31, took top of the podium at the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix in Detroit. Dixon pulled away on lap 55 for his first win of…
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…
White Water Wins
New Zealand 2012 Olympic slalom kayaking team member Mike Dawson has taken first place in the Bud Light Lime Steep Creek Championships at this year’s Teva Mountain Games in Red Cliff, Colorado. Dawson, from…
All Black Across the Board
New Zealand Maori and the national men’s sevens team will be rebranded and known as the Maori All Blacks and All Blacks Sevens, the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) has said, with a change…
Thorn Garners Further Prestige
Mosgiel-born lock Brad Thorn, 37, has become the first player to clinch a global three-title sweep of World Cup, European Cup and Super 15 honours, completing the triple when he helped Leinster retain their…
Marshall Shows Them
Whakatane-born league star Benji Marshall’s goal-kicking “sparked a remarkable come-from-behind win over the Warriors at fortress Leichhardt Oval” beating the Auckland team 24-22. “The experience of Marshall, 27, both with the ball in hand…
Sevens Title Won at Twickenham
New Zealand have retained their Sevens World Series title, ending the season with a third-place spot at the London Sevens to finish on 167 Series points, six ahead of closest rivals Fiji. A record…
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…
Standing Out on Court
New Zealand high school basketball player 2.15m- (7 feet 1 inch) Steven Adams, who plays for Notre Dame Prep in Baltimore, is one of the top-ranked players in the Class of 2012 (No. 6…
Cool Little Boost in Dubai
Twenty-year-old freestyle motocross rider Levi Sherwood from Palmerston North has won the 2012 Red Bull X-Fighters series opener in Dubai. He finished Australian Rob Adelberg off with a run featuring a mix of old-school…
Pursuit gold for Shanks
Dunedin-born Alison Shanks, 29, won the women’s Individual Pursuit title beating Britain’s Wendy Houvenaghel by more than two seconds at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Melbourne this month. “It’s a great…
In His Element
“When it comes to skateboarding, New Zealander Bjorn Johnston has put in work,” ESPN blogger Joel Rice writes. “Though he joined Element’s Australian team relatively recently, his resume runs quite deep. Prior to signing…
Less Talking More Chalking
Rocky “The Technician” Lane, world record holding professional New Zealand pool champion, is profiled in Air Macau’s in-flight magazine this month. “Upon agreeing to an interview, Lane suggests meeting at Bar 171 in Taipa,…
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…
Final Leap Beneath Blue
Teenager Alex Colvin features in the Guardian’s regular gallery ‘24 Hours in Pictures’, competing in the under-17 men’s long jump final on day one of the 2012 New Zealand National Athletics Championships…
Pumas Sign Henry
Sir Graham Henry has signed with the Argentine Rugby Union (UAR) as a part-time consultant with a particular view to improve coaching at Argentina’s high performance centres. The World Cup-winning coach will help fine…
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…
Wimbledon Of Shearing
The 4600 sheep picked for the 2012 World Sheep Shearing Competition in Masterton, and the national Golden Shears championships, were pampered this week, with top clippers from around the globe competing for a top…
Home Match For Crusaders
One major symbol of regeneration in Christchurch is the construction of a temporary stadium in Addington that will be used by the Crusaders Super Rugby team Emma Stoney explains in The New York Times. “The…
Running Paths Of History
New Plymouth-based ultra-distance runner Lisa Tamati and Australian travel journalist Chris Ord recently ran 140km from the desert outpost of Hermannsburg to Alice Springs — retracing the route taken by stockman Hezekial Malbunka when…
All About Winning
Hamilton-born Warren Gatland, 48, the current Wales National Rugby Club Coach, speaks to Meet the Boss TV presenter Padraig Hyland about his ambitions as a coach and for the Welsh team. His greatest satisfaction…
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…
Pebble Beach On Steroids
“There are a lot of places your golf ball can go on this course, and many of them are not good,” cautioned Ryan Brandeburg, the director of golf at a thrill ride of a…
Towering Forward Impresses
Wellington basketball player, former Scots College student, Steven Adams is Sports Illustrated’s ‘High School Player of the Month’. Seven-foot Adams, who has relocated to the United States playing for Notre Dame Prep, is immensely talented and…
Thrilling Win for Paddison
Wellington golfer Gareth Paddison, 31, held on in a nail-biting finish to win the Victorian PGA Championship at Creswick’s Forest Park by one shot ahead of Australian Leighton Lyle. Forest Resort pro-golfer Ben Roberts…
Highlight Of Career
Taupo-born triathlete Bevan Docherty, 34, has beaten seven-time Tour de France winner American Lance Armstrong to take the Panama half ironman title. Olympic silver-medalist Docherty beat Armstrong by 31 seconds after overtaking him on…
