From the Fern: Latest from the NZ Team
March has been a huge month for New Zealand sport, with Kiwi athletes shining both nationally and internationally.
The Women’s Black Sticks kicked things off by winning the Nations Cup in Chile, defeating Ireland in a shootout after the final ended 1-1 in regulation time.
Our wāhine continued to dominate on the international stage with the Women's Sevens Team securing their third consecutive victory at the recent Hong Kong Sevens, winning 26-19 over arch-rivals Australia. Jorja Miller had an outstanding game and was named Player of the Final.
Paul Coll kicked off his New Zealand Open title defence in Christchurch with a dominant 3-0 victory in just 25 minutes. He went on to claim the title defeating Japan's No. 1 Ryunosuke Tsukue in front of a passionate home crowd. With squash set to make its Olympic debut at LA 2028, the excitement is building.
Over in China, Tom Walsh won his third World Indoor title, and sixth consecutive Indoor medal, at the World Athletics Indoor Championships with a throw of 21.65 metres.
The flying kiwi Hamish Kerr took the silver medal in the High Jump at the World Indoor Championships. The Paris 2024 champion proves he's constantly world-class in notching three global medals in the last 12 months.
The winter athletes have continued their winning streak, with Zoi Sadowski-Synnott claiming the 2025 FIS Snowboard Slopestyle World Championship title in Corvatsch, Switzerland, this month.
Sadowski-Synnott has finished on the podium at every Slopestyle World Championships she has dropped into during her decorated career, with this marking her fifth consecutive Snowboard Slopestyle World Championships podium, and her third Snowboard Slopestyle World Champion title, a record setting achievement.
Wanaka's Finn Melville Ives has become the latest world champion, delivering one of the most epic freeski halfpipe runs ever to win the 2025 FIS Men’s Freeski Halfpipe World Championship title—an incredible achievement in his debut appearance at the event.
Freestyle skier Luca Harrington was crowned the Freeski Big Air World Champion in Switzerland this month. Harrington started strong with a 'right triple cork 1980 safety grab', earning 92.00 on his first run. He then delivered his signature 'switch right triple cork 1800 Esco Grab', impressing the judges and securing the highest score of the competition with a 96.75.This is Harrington's first world championship title, making history as the first New Zealander to win a world title in the discipline.
Tauranga's Sam Ruthe became the FIRST EVER 15-year-old in the world to run a sub-4-minute mile with a time of 3:58:35 at the ACA Mile Night in Auckland. Ten days later at the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne, Ruthe clocked 3:40.12 in the 1500m, shaving over a second off his previous best and finishing seventh in his toughest competition yet.
In the cycling world, Sammie Maxwell dominated the Oceania Mountain Bike Championships in Queenstown, claiming Elite Women’s Cross Country and Short Track Titles. Meanwhile, Anton Cooper powered to gold in the Elite Men’s Short Track and Silver in the Cross Country
Double world champion Ally Wollaston produced a fantastic finish to claim the omnium title at the UCI Nations Cup in Turkey. Wollaston, who won both the omnium and elimination world titles, won the final double points sprint to claim the victory in the four-event omnium at the only UCI Nations Cup competition this year.
