In the 1970s, a young New Zealand athlete introduced the world to a radical new long jump technique. But unlike high jumper Dick Fosbury and the Fosbury Flop, the Delamere Flip never got off the ground. Tuariki Delamere is upside down. Suspended in mid-air above the sandpit at the LA Coliseum, his knees are tucked … Read more
At a college track and field meet in 1974, a New Zealand long jumper representing Washington State University did something that had never been done in competition before – a somersault. Years before he joined NZ First and became a member of parliament, Tuariki Delamere was a promising long jump athlete with a scholarship at … Read more
In 1981, New Zealand runner Anne Audain accepted prize money for winning a race. In doing so, she changed the status of professional sports all around the world. Anne Audain always led from the front. In middle distance running, more so than the shorter races, strategy will often beat raw speed. Drafting behind the leader, … Read more
From tennis champions to dance craze inventors, Scratched celebrates New Zealand sporting heroes who never got their due – but whose legacies deserve to be in lights. This month, the world’s winningest road runner, Anne Audain. Anne Audain has won more races than she’s lost. In fact, of the 112 road races that Audain ran … Read more
Madeleine Chapman recalls the moment she first laid eyes upon pole vaulter Eliza McCartney – a gangly kid who just capped an extraordinary rise to claim bronze in Rio. In 2013, while I was training in the javelin at the Millennium Institute in Albany, there was always a small group of athletes training in pole … Read more
The New Zealand Olympic team uniforms were unveiled earlier this week, and the sight of them sent Robyn Gallagher into a long spiral of sadness. She explains her profoundly negative reaction. Every four years the New Zealand Olympic team unveils their uniform, usually a combination of black and fern motifs, and you look at it … Read more