Athletics (track and field) Athletics is New Zealand's second-most successful Olympic sport with 24 medals, of which 10 have been gold.
Arthur Porritt was New Zealand's first Olympic athletic medallist, winning bronze in the
100 metres at the
1924 Summer Olympics. The race was later immortallised in the 1981 film
Chariots of Fire, although at Porritt's request his character in the film was renamed "Tom Watson". The nation in particular has been strong in
middle-distance events. New Zealand men have won Olympic gold in the
1500 metres three times:
Jack Lovelock in
1936,
Peter Snell in
1964 and
John Walker in
1976. Snell also won back-to-back gold medals in the
800 metres in
1960 and 1964. The national governing body is
Athletics New Zealand, which formed in 1887 as the New Zealand Amateur Athletics Association and adopted its current name in 1989.
Australian rules football (footy) Australian rules football is a growing sport in New Zealand with programs established under the reorganised governing body of
AFL New Zealand. Australian rules football was previously much more popular in New Zealand, with a team competing at the
1908 Melbourne Carnival. Participation dropped after
World War I. The game was re-established in New Zealand in the 1970s. Leagues currently exist in
Auckland,
Canterbury, Waikato, and
Wellington. The
national team won the
Australian Football International Cup in
2005. New Zealanders who have played in the
Australian Football League, the premier Australian rules football competition, include
Joe Sellwood,
Wayne Schwass,
Thomas O'Halloran,
Danny Dickfos,
Trent Croad and
Karmichael Hunt.
Baseball The
Auckland Tuatara of the
Australian Baseball League are currently the only professional baseball team playing in New Zealand. The Tuatara began their inaugural season during the
2018–19 Australian Baseball League season, and originally played their home games at McLeod Park in
Te Atatū South. The
New Zealand national baseball team are known as The Diamondblacks.
Boxing Amateur boxing was earlier a popular sport in New Zealand, but during the 1950s there was a move to stop schools promoting boxing championships and the sport is now only of minority interest. Professional boxing in New Zealand has produced
Joseph Parker,
Geovana Peres,
Daniella Smith,
Maselino Masoe,
Bob Fitzsimmons,
Torpedo Billy Murphy,
Cherneka Johnson, and
Floyd Masson all World Champions.
Herbert Slade,
David Tua,
Kali Meehan,
Lani Daniels,
Michelle Preston and
Tom Heeney were all contenders for a World Championship.
Canoeing New Zealand enjoyed success in canoeing and kayaking at the Summer Olympics in the 1980s with sprint kayakers such as
Ian Ferguson and
Paul MacDonald, winning four gold medals at the 1984 Los Angeles games, and gold, silver and bronze at the 1988 Seoul games. The sport had a lower profile in the 1990s and 2000s, with the single Olympic medal success in the time being
Ben Fouhy's silver medal at the 2004 Athens games. In the early 2010s, canoeing and kayaking returned to international success with sprint kayaker
Lisa Carrington winning multiple gold medals at the World Championships and Olympic Games.
Cycling New Zealand has produced a number of notable cyclists, across a variety of disciplines including
track cycling,
road cycling,
mountain biking,
Downhill and
BMX. New Zealand won two cycling medals at the
2008 Beijing Olympics –
Hayden Roulston took silver in the Men's 4000 m Individual Pursuit, while the men's team pursuit team took bronze. At the
2017 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, the New Zealand team took a total of five medals, equalling the country's record medal tally previously achieved at the
2012 and
2014 Worlds, with
Ethan Mitchell,
Sam Webster and
Eddie Dawkins winning the gold in the men's team sprint for the third time in four years and Mitchell additionally becoming the first New Zealander to medal in the individual sprint. In road racing,
George Bennett became the first New Zealander to take an overall win in a
UCI WorldTour event when he won the
2017 Tour of California. The sport is governed in New Zealand by
Cycling New Zealand.
Equestrian Equestrian sportsmen, sportswomen and horses make their mark in the world, with
Mark Todd being chosen international "Horseman of the Twentieth Century", and many juniors at
Pony Club level. Mark Todd won a gold medal in
eventing at the 1984 Olympic Games, and again at the 1988 Games. He won Bronze at the 2012 London games. A Bronze Medal was also won in the Teams Event at the 1988 Games. Further medals were won at the 1992, 1996, and 2000 Games.
Gliding New Zealand hosted the 1995
World Gliding Championships at
Omarama in North Otago, near the centre of the South Island. In 2002 and 2003,
Steve Fossett tried to beat the world gliding altitude record there (see:
Gliding New Zealand and
external links below).
Golf New Zealand's
Michael Campbell won the
2005 U.S. Open Golf Championship. The New Zealand amateur team of Campbell,
Phil Tataurangi, Steven Scahill and Grant Moorehead won the
Eisenhower Trophy (World Amateur team event) in 1992 in Vancouver. Sir
Bob Charles has won the
British Open and a number of other titles.
Lydia Ko, born in
Seoul but raised from infancy in New Zealand, was #1 in the women's
World Amateur Golf Ranking, and won two events on the US-based
LPGA Tour before turning professional in 2013. She has since won seven more LPGA events, and for a time was #1 in the
Women's World Golf Rankings for professionals. The first of Ko's two stints as #1 in the professional rankings began in February 2015, before her 18th birthday. Later in 2015, Ko won her first
major championship, the
Evian Championship. Tournaments and competitions include
New Zealand Open,
New Zealand Women's Open,
New Zealand Amateur and
New Zealand PGA Championship.
Hockey In New Zealand, like most other Commonwealth nations, "
hockey" without an identifier refers to
field hockey, as opposed to
ice hockey and other kinds of hockey. The
New Zealand Hockey Federation (also known as Hockey New Zealand) administers the sport in New Zealand, and had 48,174 registered players in the 2013 winter, of which 52.8 percent were female and 47.2 percent were male. The New Zealand
men's national team and
women's national team are both known as the "Black Sticks". The best result attained thus far by the men was a gold medal at the
1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. The best placing by the women thus far has been a 4th placing at both the
1986 Women's Hockey World Cup and the
2012 Summer Olympics. In the Commonwealth Games they have won a silver medal at the
2010 Commonwealth Games, bronze at the
2014 Commonwealth Games, and gold at the
2018 Commonwealth Games. , the men's team is ranked 8th and the women's team is ranked 4th in the world by the
International Hockey Federation (FIH).
Ice hockey Ice hockey has been played in New Zealand since 1937, but is a fairly small sport and has currently around 1600 active players. The national governing body is
New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation which is made up of 3 Regional Associations. Since 2005 the NZIHF organises the
New Zealand Ice Hockey League that currently consists of five teams, two teams from
Auckland, one from
Dunedin, one from
Queenstown and one from
Christchurch. New Zealand's
men's national ice hockey team is called the Ice Blacks and the
women's the Ice Ferns.
Indoor bowls New Zealand Indoor Bowls was introduced in 1908. Membership peaked in 1963 with 73,100 affiliated members, today it has an estimated 20,000 members currently affiliated.
Kickboxing Kickboxing is a growing sport in New Zealand. New Zealand have had multiple world champions including
Ray Sefo,
Mark Hunt,
Israel Adesanya,
Michelle Preston.
Kī-o-rahi Kī-o-rahi is a traditional Māori ball sport played in New Zealand with a small round ball called a
ki. It is a fast-paced sport incorporating skills similar to
Australian Rules,
rugby union,
netball and
touch.
Motorsport driving his
McLaren M7A Formula One car Despite New Zealand not having a major car industry since the 1990s, it is successful at
motorsport. There are many levels of competitive motors sport series in New Zealand, which are most simply broken down into watersports (hydro-planing, jetski racing and thundercat racing), automobile racing (Club and national level circuit racing and rallying, with some international events, as well as speedway) and finally motorcycle racing (street, circuit and
dirt/motocross). To date, New Zealand has seen one
Formula One World Champion,
Denny Hulme, in 1967. Six other New Zealanders have raced at
Grand Prix level:
Bruce McLaren (four wins),
Chris Amon,
Howden Ganley,
Mike Thackwell,
Brendon Hartley and
Liam Lawson. Bruce McLaren founded the
McLaren racing team, which was named after him. In addition to their Formula One careers, Chris Amon and Bruce McLaren won the
1966 24 Hours of Le Mans sports-car race.
Earl Bamber won the
2015 24 Hours of Le Mans, and won again in 2017 with fellow kiwi
Brendon Hartley. Bruce McLaren and Denny Hulme won four
Can-Am sports-car racing championships, from 1967 to 1970.
Scott Dixon won the
Indianapolis 500 in
2008, and the
IndyCar Series championship in 2003, 2008, 2013, 2015, 2018 and 2020. Dixon has won 53 races in his IndyCar career, the second most after American driver
A. J. Foyt. New Zealand has drivers currently competing on a high level on the world stage:
Scott McLaughlin,
Shane van Gisbergen and
Fabian Coulthard are among several New Zealand drivers who have contested the Australian-based
Supercars Championship, which holds a round in New Zealand each year, at the
Pukekohe circuit.
Greg Murphy has won the pinnacle race of the Supercar season, the
Bathurst 1000, four times.
Brendon Hartley won the
FIA World Endurance Championship in 2015. Two New Zealanders currently compete in the American
IndyCar Series:
Scott McLaughlin for
Team Penske, and
Scott Dixon for
Chip Ganassi Racing. One New Zealander currently competes in
Formula One:
Liam Lawson, who is driving for
Racing Bulls in the
2025 Formula One World Championship.
A1 Team New Zealand was a front-runner since the series inception.
Jonny Reid won seven races for the team helping it twice claim second place in the Championship, 2006–07 & 2007–08. On 20 January 2008,
Taupo Motorsport Park hosted the fifth race in the
2007–08 A1 Grand Prix season.
Rallying is a popular sport in New Zealand, and has previously hosted rounds of the
World Rally Championship (the last time being in 2012) and hosts the
Asia-Pacific Rally Championship each year. A competitive national championship is run each year, and some drivers also take part in the
Australian Rally Championship, most notably the late
Possum Bourne, who was a seven-times Australian Rally Champion.
Hayden Paddon is New Zealand's top rally driver, formerly competing in the
World Rally Championship for Hyundai. New Zealand also has its own rally championship, with the
New Zealand Rally Championship going Paddon's way seven times.
Ivan Mauger, born in
Christchurch on 4 October 1939, won a record 6
motorcycle speedway World Championships in
1968,
1969,
1970,
1972,
1977 and
1979. He also finished on the podium of the World Final in
1967 (3rd),
1971 (2nd),
1973 (2nd) and
1974 (2nd). Mauger also won the
Speedway World Team Cup riding for
Great Britain in
1968,
1971 and
1972, while winning the title for a fourth time with the
New Zealand team in
1979. Mauger was also the
Speedway World Pairs Champion in
1969 and
1970 as well as the
Long Track World Champion in 1971, 1972 and 1976, a total of 15 World Championships in speedway racing.
Barry Briggs, born in Christchurch on 30 December 1934, is a New Zealand motorcyclist who won four individual Speedway World Championships (
1957,
1958,
1964 and
1966) and took part in 87 world championship races. Briggs also won the Speedway World Team cup with Great Britain in 1968 and 1971.
Ronnie Moore became New Zealand's first motorsport World Champion when he won the
1954 Speedway World Championship, backing that up to win a second time in
1959. Moore also won the World Pairs Championship with Ivan Mauger in 1970. Although born in
Hobart,
Australia in 1933, Moore's parents moved to New Zealand while he was a child. Since then
Graeme Crosby and
Aaron Slight have both risen to the top of World Championship motorcycle racing, in
500cc and
Superbikes respectively but championships have been elusive. Also
John Britten designed a revolutionary motorcycle called the
Britten V1000.
Shayne King became the first rider from New Zealand to win the 500cc
Motocross World Championship in 1996.
Stefan Merriman is a four-time winner of the
World Enduro Championship for
enduro motorcycling. In 2003
Wade Cunningham become New Zealand's first ever
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile world champion by winning the
Karting World Championship.
Orienteering Orienteering is a popular sport in New Zealand, that combines
cross-country running with land
navigation skills across a range of settings. Variations of the sport popular in New Zealand include
bicycle orienteering,
ski orienteering, and
rogaines. Orienteering is a popular sport for youth and juniors, and New Zealand regularly sends competitors to both the World Orienteering Championships and the Junior World Orienteering Championships. Orienteering in New Zealand is organised by the New Zealand Orienteering Federation
Matt Ogden won the middle-distance event at the 2012
Junior World Orienteering Championships in
Slovakia.
Rowing Rowing has been a consistent medal winner at the Olympic Games with the first coming in 1920. New Zealand have won medals at every Olympics between 1968 and 2016, with the exception of 1980. At the
World Rowing Championships of 2005, in
Kaizu, Gifu, Japan, New Zealand won four gold medals in four consecutive races – now known in New Zealand sporting culture as the "
Magic 45 minutes". In 2006,
Nathan Cohen became the first New Zealander to win a gold medal at the
World University Games in any sport, rowing a
single scull. In addition, a number of
Rowing World Cup events have been won by New Zealanders.
Rowing New Zealand is the governing body.
Lake Karapiro in the Waikato and
Lake Ruataniwha in the
Mackenzie Basin are the two premier rowing venues in New Zealand. Karapiro hosted the
2010 World Rowing Championships.
Sailing yacht of the
America's Cup World Series New Zealand sailors have won a large number of international events, including Olympic Games medals in 1956, 1964, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2008, 2012 and 2016. New Zealand holds the
America's Cup sailing title, having won it three times in the challenge's history.
Surf lifesaving (surf sports) In New Zealand, surf lifesaving sport encompasses a number of different disciplines, including surf swimming, board paddling, surf ski, beach flags, beach sprint, Ironman with competitors starting from the age of 7.
America's Cup Auckland hosted consecutive
America's Cup regattas
in 2000 and
2003. In 2000, Team New Zealand successfully defended the trophy they won in 1995 in
San Diego, but
in 2003 they lost to a team headed by
Ernesto Bertarelli of Switzerland whose
Alinghi was skippered by
Russell Coutts, the expatriate Kiwi who helmed the victorious
Black Magic in 1995 and
New Zealand in 2000 as well as many other Kiwis. Coutts and
Brad Butterworth, along with several other Team New Zealand members, defected to Bertarelli's Alinghi team, taking with them a wealth of experience that allowed the new team to win the America's Cup on the first challenge. Coutts was later dismissed from the Alinghi team; he fought a court battle with Bertarelli to allow him to sail in the
2007 America's Cup contest in Spain, but reached a settlement that kept him out of that contest. The
2021 America's Cup was held in Auckland's
Waitematā Harbour after New Zealand won the
2017 America's Cup. Emirates Team New Zealand took out 1st place against Luna Rossa of Italy.
Winter sports New Zealand has several areas for
skiing and
snowboarding, on both islands.
Whakapapa and
Turoa are the only commercial resorts on the
North Island;
Queenstown,
Wānaka and
Christchurch are the top locations in the
South Island to access the mountains. In addition to the commercial ski resorts, New Zealand has many non-profit
club fields across both the North and South Islands, particularly in the region of the Southern Alps close to Christchurch such as
Craigieburn Valley,
Broken River and
Temple Basin. In the North Island, there are club field skiing options on
Mount Taranaki at the
Manganui area and also on the Eastern aspect of
Mount Ruapehu at
Tukino. International snowboarders from New Zealand include
Mitch Brown, who placed 25th at the
2006 Winter Olympics in the men's halfpipe, and his sister
Kendall Brown, who placed 15th at the
2010 Winter Olympics in the women's halfpipe. New Zealand snowboarder
Jacob Koia is currently sitting in 18th position on the TTR world rankings. Notable skiers include
Claudia Riegler, Olympic medallist
Annelise Coberger and
Alice Robinson.
Softball New Zealand's men's
softball team, nicknamed the "
Black Sox", have been successful on the international stage. The
New Zealand women's national softball team are nicknamed the White Sox. They won the World Championships in 1982.
Squash Squash has been played competitively in New Zealand since 1932. In 2010, there were 220 clubs affiliated with the national organisation,
Squash New Zealand. Competitions are played at club, regional and national level. Dame
Susan Devoy won the
World Open Championship a record four times, in 1985, 1987, 1990, and 1992. She also won seven consecutive
British Open titles from 1984 to 1990, and an eighth in 1992. At
Squash in the 2010 Commonwealth Games,
Joelle King and
Jaclyn Hawkes won gold in the women's doubles. King and
Martin Knight won silver in the mixed doubles. New Zealand hosted the Women's World Team Championships in 2010. They were held at
International Pacific College in
Palmerston North. In
Squash at the 2018 Commonwealth Games,
Joelle King won gold in the women's singles and
Paul Coll took silver in the men's singles. King won gold again with
Amanda Landers-Murphy in women's doubles. King and Coll won bronze in the mixed doubles.
Surfing and surfsport Surfing in New Zealand has a history dating back as far as 1963, when the first national championships were held at
Mount Maunganui and won by Peter Way. Surfing has since become more popular with many New Zealanders competing on the international scene. In 1976, New Zealand hosted the Amco/
Radio Hauraki Pro at North
Piha which became the first event of the very first year of the
World Professional Surfing Tour. The event was won by Michael Peterson. In 1987, Iain Buchanan would go on to compete on the world tour finishing 34th overall, the highest placing ever for a New Zealand surfer. New Zealand's top surfer
Maz Quinn at a young age won the
Billabong Pro-Junior Series in Australia in 1996, then competed in the World Pro Junior final in France coming second overall to
Taj Burrow. Maz Quinn placed 7th on the ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) in 2001 to qualify for the World Championship Tour (WCT) – the first Kiwi to do so. Woman's surfing has also come far in recent years with New Zealand surfer
Paige Hareb currently sitting in 8th position on the
ASP World Tour of Surfing.
Tennis Tennis was introduced to New Zealand in the 1870s, soon after the modern form of the game was invented in England. The first New Zealand Tennis Championships were played at Farndon in
Hawkes Bay in 1886.
Māori participation in tennis began soon after.
Sir Maui Pomare, the first Māori to qualify as a doctor, won the USA Inter-Varsity Tennis Championships in 1899 while he was studying there. This began a legacy of Māori participation in tennis, with players emerging over the years, most recently professional players like
Kelly Evernden,
Rewa Hudson and
Leanne Baker. But perhaps the doyenne of Māori tennis was
Ruia Morrison, who played in international competitions, and at
Wimbledon, in the early days of the professional era. New Zealand and Australia, combined as Australasia, were founding members of the
International Tennis Federation (ITF) in 1913. New Zealander
Tony Wilding was the World No. 1 player in 1913. He was Wimbledon Champion in 1910, 1911, 1912 and 1913. He was a pivotal figure in helping Australasia win the
Davis Cup in 1907, hold it in 1908 and 1909, and to win it again in 1914. He was killed in action during
World War I on 9 May 1915 in the
Battle of Aubers Ridge, northern France. New Zealand has competed in the
Fed Cup since 1965, when they played Argentina (won 2–1) and Australia (lost 0–3). At a Fed Cup regional tournament held in Christchurch in 2007, New Zealand played Jordan (won 3–0), India (lost 1–2), Chinese Taipei (lost 1–2), Kazakhstan (won 3–0), and Hong Kong (won 2–1). New Zealand's representatives at the Olympic Games have been: 1912, Stockholm – Tony Wilding (Australasia); 1988, Seoul –
Belinda Cordwell and Kelly Evernden (singles) and Bruce Devlin with Kelly Evernden (men's doubles); 1996, Atlanta –
Brett Steven; 2008, Beijing –
Marina Erakovic. The
Heineken Open is part of the ATP International Series played in Auckland each year, just before the
Australian Open.
Triathlon Hamish Carter of New Zealand won gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics and bronze at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, and was rated world number one for several years. Other successful triathletes from New Zealand include
Bevan Docherty, who won the ITU world championship, and a silver in Athens (both in 2004). He has also gained a bronze medal in Beijing 2008, and a silver medal in the Commonwealth Games (Melbourne in 2006). On the women's side,
Samantha Warriner was ranked number 1 in the world. She won silver at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 2006, and
Andrea Hewitt took bronze at the same event.
Thoroughbred horse running The various Cup days in the major cities attract crowds, the biggest ones being
Auckland Cup week and the
Wellington Cup festival.
Phar Lap and many
Melbourne Cup winners were bred in New Zealand.
Volleyball The volleyball national governing body is Volleyball New Zealand which is made up of 14 Regional Associations. Within each Association there are clubs and/or representative teams. The main events on the calendar each year are the National Secondary Schools Championships and the National Club Championships. The
New Zealand women's national volleyball team won the gold medal on several occasions. ==International competitions==