For today's sporting history, Perlina Lau talks to Adrian Blincoe who was a distance runner who represented New Zealand at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He also held the New Zealand record for the 5000m for 15 years.
For today's sporting history we're going back to the 1981, where a New Zealander took the running world by storm. 24-year-old Allison Roe, a long-distance runner from the Auckland's north shore, won both the prestigious Boston & New York marathons in the same year. She broke both course records and smashed the world record in New York. Only to have it controversially stripped weeks later. Allison became a global star overnight and became the first female to win the Halberg New Zealand Sportsperson of the Year award.
This week we're joined by former Tall Fern legend Jody Cameron. Jody competed at the Athens games with the Black Ferns in 2004 and now co-owns the all-female-owned basketball team the Northern Kahu. She also leads High Performance Sport New Zealand's initiative to help women pursue a career in high performance coaching.
This week for sporting history I'm joined by Katherine Oberlin-Brown At just 19 she was the women's two-time Motorcross World champion... The first time anyone had held the title back-to-back. Katherine had a glittering career in front of her. She might still be riding today... If it weren't for one fateful moment. A training crash that left her with just a 50% chance of ever walking again.
For today's sporting history we're going back to 1974. A fleeting moment - less than 11 seconds - when track & field bumped into gymnastics. A splash of magic happened and a boy from Papakura came inches away from revolutionising the long jump. That boy was Tuariki Delamere. And that magic... The Delamere flip. A short lived - and quickly banned - long jump technique. It involved doing a summersault mid jump.
The sport of horse racing has been Noel Harris' whole life. His father Jock was a Manawatū jockey and horse trainer, who won more than 350 races. Following in his father's footsteps, Noel rode his first winner at Foxton on 16 May 1970 and by the time he retired from racing in 2015, had ridden over two-thousand winners in New Zealand. He also won the jockeys' premiership in both New Zealand and Singapore. In 2018, Harris was inducted into the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame...and earlier this year was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the thoroughbred racing industry. These days, Harris lives in Mount Maunganui and is a mentor for apprentice jockeys.
In this segment we often go way back in time, but today we are focusing on somebody whose time is right here - right now. Finn Butcher won the gold medal in the inaugural Olympic kayak cross event at the Paris Olympic Games last year. That moment in time - on the water last year - catapulted 'The Butcher' from small town Alexandra into the nation's consciousness. Then, last month, after a public vote, he was awarded the Favourite Sporting Moment award at 2025 Halberg Awards for the emotional post-race embrace he enjoyed with his father.
In this segment we often go way back in time, but today we are doing something rare and focusing on the now. It takes a special kind of athlete to get this treatment, but current Olympic high jump champion Hamish Kerr fits the bill You might remember he won that gold medal after a jump off with American Shelby McEwen.
Today we're focusing on the career of rugby union legend Billy Stead. Billy Stead has been called "one of the most influential players in the early years of All Blacks rugby". He was the first All Blacks test captain when they played Britain's touring team in 1904, and vice captain to the 1905-to-06 original All Blacks squad. Lynn McConnell is an historian, sports journalist, and prolific author and he's just published 'Billy Stead's Rugby World'.
She was once the captain of the Aotearoa Māori Sevens team and was with them through five victories at the Hong Kong Women's Sevens tournament. In 2003 she was part of the Kiwi Ferns squad that took out the Rugby League World Cup. She's continued to play a crucial role in the game - both here and abroad - since transitioning into coaching in 2012. Mere Baker discussed her remarkable career with Emile Donovan.
Sean Fitzpatrick never wanted to lead the All Blacks but when nobody else was available, he stepped up, and became one of the great sporting leaders the country has seen. He joins Jesse Mulligan to talk about his relationship with rugby and whether having an All-Black father helped or hindered his career.
In a career that spanned 18 years, Daniel Vettori established himself as one of the finest left-arm spinners in cricket history. Making his debut at just 18, Vettori went on to become New Zealand's most capped ODI player, the third-highest wicket-taker, and, alongside Ross Taylor, New Zealand's most capped Test cricketer. With over 4,500 Test runs, including six centuries, he also took over the captaincy during a dark period in New Zealand cricket. Since retiring, Vettori has turned to coaching, currently working with the SunRisers Hyderabad in the IPL and the Australian Men's bowling squad.. Last week, he was recognised as one of New Zealand's greatest players ... joining the likes of Sir Richard Hadlee and Martin Crowe in New Zealand's inaugural Hall of Fame.
At just 27 years old, Zoe has already etched her name in the history books as the first New Zealand sprinter since the 1976 Montreal Olympics to qualify for the Games - and the first to reach the semifinals in a century. Zoe made history again when she became the first Oceanian woman to break the 11-second barrier in the 100m ... clocking an impressive personal best of 10.96 seconds. With 11 national titles to her name... she's not only dominating the track but inspiring a new generation of athletes to follow in her footsteps.
Sean Becker is a former Olympian and curling international. He's played for New Zealand in 5 men's world championships, was New Zealand skipper of a team that won three Pacific champs and represented New Zealand at the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy - the first time New Zealand had made the Olympics for curling.
Adventure racer and multisport triathlete Steve Gurney joins us for this week's NZ Sporting History. Steve is most well-known for winning the 243km Coast to Coast race a record 9 times and representing New Zealand at two Mountain bike world championships.
Sir Wayne's career in Rugby Union includes joining the New Zealand Cavaliers on their controversial tour of apartheid South Africa and winning the inaugural 1987 Rugby World Cup. He then captained the All Blacks for a three year, 14 game unbeaten streak Buck is also credited with revitalising the Ka Mate haka the All Blacks perform before matched and teaching the team the correct tikanga. Oh, and there's also the infamous "Battle of Nantes" which resulted in Sir Wayne 'Buck' Shelford being knocked out, losing several teeth and a testicle!
On the 23rd of June 2021 at the Rose Bowl, Southampton, England, the Black Caps beat India to win the inaugural ICC World Test Championship. Dylan Cleaver is a seasoned sports journalist who worked with the NZ Herald for 17 years before going out on his own with 'The Bounce' - a Substack newsletter. He talks to Jesse about the iconic Block Caps win.
Today we're digging into the history of an iconic Kiwi event, the New Zealand Grand Prix. It was first held in 1950 at the Ohakea Circuit in Palmerston North, and these days it's the signature event of the Formula Regional Oceania Championship. Many iconic drivers have taken part in the NZ Grand Prix over the years, from international stars like Sir Jackie Stewart to local legends like Bruce McLaren, Chris Amon and Nick Cassidy. Michael Clark is a historian and former driver himself and he walks Jesse through an eventful history.
"New Zealand's sailing professor" Mark Orams has had a long career in sailing. He won 12 New Zealand titles over a range of different yachting classes. He was named New Zealand Yachtsman of the Year as a member of Steinlager 2 which won the 1989-90 Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race. He was a member of Team New Zealand's America's Cup defences in 2000 and 2003 and went on to work as a national youth selection and Olympic sailing coach. Mark joins Mark Leishman for a trip through some of his greatest achievements.
Five-time Commonwealth Games medalist Nigel Avery is one of the most versatile athletes New Zealand has produced. He started his sporting career in athletics, excelling in shot-put and triple jump. He then tried his hand at bobsleigh and competed with the national squad for 5 years before discovering weightlifting which took him to the Olympic and Commonwealth games These days Nigel leads the New Zealand Olympic team as the Chef de mission.