There was plenty for New Zealand sports fans to cheer about, with phenomenal success for Kiwi competitors. Here’s a look back at some of the incredible achievements.
Olympic games glory
The Paris Olympics were our most successful ever. Our 10 gold medals were the most we’ve bagged in a single Games, and with 20 medals in total, we ended up 11th on the medal winners’ table.
Kayak queen Dame Lisa Carrington, 35, earned three golds to add to the five she already had in her collection. Fellow kayaker Alicia Hoskin, 24, and cyclist Ellesse Andrews, 24, both won two golds, while golfer Lydia Ko, 27, high jumper Hamish Kerr, 28, and kayaker Finn Butcher, 29, also got to stand on top of the podium. The Black Ferns won the women’s rugby sevens, rowers Brooke Francis, 29, and Lucy Spoors, 33, were triumphant in the double sculls, and Tara Vaughan, 20, and Olivia Brett, 23, were part of the gold medal-winning women’s kayak fours.
Of our 20 total medals, 14 were won by women or women’s teams, with one bronze going to the mixed Nacra Sailing team.
Netball magic
The Silver Ferns beat fierce rivals Australia in the Constellation Cup, taking out three of the four games in the series. It was almost a clean sweep by the Kiwis after they comprehensively won the first three games – including by 18 goals in the third test – but the world champion Diamonds managed to come out on top in the final game.
It’s the third win for the Ferns in the competition’s 15-year history, and their goal tallies of 64, 63 and 61 in the first three tests were the three highest 60-minute scores they have ever recorded against the Diamonds in 171 previous meetings.
Howzat! Black Caps make history
The Black Caps made it into the record books after winning their test series against India 3-0. The team’s epic eight-wicket victory in the first test was a huge deal as it was the Kiwi side’s first triumph over India, in India, in 36 years. To then make a clean sweep of the series was massive. The win has later been described as the greatest achievement in the Black Caps’ history. It was the first series win by a visiting team in India for 12 years.
Will Young, 32, was named player of the series. Rachin Ravindra, 25, Mitchell Santner, 32, and Ajaz Patel, 36, also took home the three Player of the Match awards.
Cricket queens
The White Ferns pulled off a seemingly impossible feat to win the T20 Cricket World Cup for the first time. With a 10-game losing streak leading up to the competition in Dubai, their chances of walking away with the trophy didn’t look good. But they made it to the final and beat favourites South Africa by 32 runs in superb style.
The victory was especially sweet for veterans Sophie Devine, 35, and Suzie Bates, 37, who were losing finalists back in 2009 and 2010. Suzie’s appearance in the final made her the most-capped women’s international cricketer across all formats.
Amelia Kerr, 24, was named Player of the Final and the tournament.
Sailing superstars
Emirates Team New Zealand left UK’s INEOS Britannia in its wake in seven out of nine races to take the America’s Cup in Barcelona. We’re the first team to win the Auld Mug – the world’s oldest sporting trophy – three times in a row in the modern era and of course we did it in convincing style. It was also the second win for Peter Burling, 33, as skipper and the third for the team’s CEO Grant Dalton, 67.
Golfing GOAT
When she took home gold at the Paris Olympics, Lydia Ko became the first golfer in the modern era to win gold, silver and bronze at three different Olympic Games. No other golfer of any gender has won more than one Olympic medal.
The win earned the 27-year-old the right to be inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame. It made her the youngest person to ever receive the honour.
But Lydia wasn’t done yet. Two weeks later, she won the prestigious Women’s British Open at St Andrews, Scotland. It was the third major championship of her career.
The following month, she was victorious in the Kroger Queen City Championship. It was the first time she’d won back-to-back LPGA tournaments in eight years.
And in November she picked up another big trophy. The Heather Farr Perseverance Award, which is voted for by her golfing peers. The award goes to someone who has shown “determination, perseverance and spirit in fulfilling her goals as a player”.
Other Kiwis excelling in their chosen fields
Cyclist Ally Wollaston: After winning silver and bronze at the Olympics, Ally, 23, became the first Kiwi rider to win two world championship titles at the same event. She won gold in the omnium and the elimination race at the Track Cycling World Championships in Denmark.
Triathlete Hayden Wilde: Following his silver medal-winning performance at the Olympics, Hayden, 27, placed first in the finale of the world triathlon series in Spain.
New Zealand women’s canoe polo team: They beat Italy 6-1 to win the world championships in China.
Racing driver Liam Lawson: The 22-year-old was given a full-time race seat in the RB Formula 1 team and in his first race finished ninth after starting at 19th place.
Footballer Chris Wood: All Whites captain Chris, 32, who plays for English club Nottingham Forest, was named Premier League Player for October. He was the first New Zealander to achieve the feat.
Tennis players Lulu Sun and Erin Routliffe: Lulu, 23, got through to the singles quarter-finals at Wimbledon, the first Kiwi woman to make it that far. Erin, 29, was also ranked world number-one women’s doubles player in July and with her partner won the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia in November.
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