New Zealand rugby sevens team turned the tables on 2016 Olympic champions Australia, winning a thrilling final at Robina Stadium on the Gold Coast in extra time.
Commonwealth Games
Events In History
14 April 2018
In the 2010s New Zealand’s women’s hockey team was consistently among the best in the world, but until 2018 it had not won a major tournament
14 October 2010
Just how close the New Zealand and Australian netball teams were became clear as the match, the longest official game of netball ever played, stretched over 84 pulsating minutes.
1 August 1992
At the age of 37, Lorraine Moller ran the race of her life to place third in the marathon at the Barcelona Olympics.
2 February 1974
The men’s 1500-m final was run on the last day of the 1974 Christchurch Commonwealth Games. Tanzanian Filbert Bayi ran the first 800 m in an astonishing 1 minute 52.2 seconds, conserved energy on the third lap, and held off 22-year-old New Zealander John Walker to set a new world record of 3:32.16.
25 January 1974
The opening ceremony of the ‘Friendly Games’ had featured performances by schoolchildren and a Māori concert party. Next day, Canterbury runner Dick Tayler ensured the success of the Games with a surprise victory for the host nation in the 10,000 m track race.
Articles
Sport, 1940-1960
The mid-century decades brought more mass participation in sport, the consolidation of many national competitions, and greater achievement at international level. Read the full article
Page 3 - Women's sport, 1940-60
Women's sport matured in New Zealand after 1945. Mass participation in a period of prosperity, and increased mobility thanks to the now-common motor car, were crucial
Page 4 - Competitors and spectators
Sports participation and spectatorship were the only daytime leisure activities to rival home-centred pursuits such as gardening in this period. New Zealand's hosting of the
Rowing in New Zealand
The 2010 World Rowing Championships was the third major international rowing event to be held at Lake Karāpiro in Waikato. Find out about earlier events and other fascinating stories from New Zealand's rich rowing past. Read the full article
Page 4 - The world comes to Karāpiro
Lake Karāpiro's potential to become the best rowing venue in a country with few straight sheltered courses was soon recognised and it hosted the 1950 Empire Games and the 1978
Biographies
The sports writer Peter Heidenstrom rated Yvette Williams as his 'New Zealand Athlete of the Century'. There is no doubt that she was one of our greatest-ever athletes - and probably the most versatile.
John Walker is one of New Zealand's track heroes. His athletic career was punctuated by memorable performances and noted for its longevity
Main image: Sound clip: Yvette Williams, 1954 Games
Hear an extract from 1954 radio documentary, 'Sports Mirror', about the 1954 Empire and Commonwealth Games and Yvette Williams' three gold medals
