May flew by with many of our athletes and teams competing and training overseas as they put the final touches on their Olympic preparation.
Over at the ICF World Cup in Hungary New Zealand dominated in the K1 500 with Aimee Fisher clinching gold, and Dame Lisa Carrington taking silver. The race came down to the wire with only a split second separating the Kiwi pair, the K1 at the Olympics is going to be one of the events of the Games for Kiwi fans! It was a successful meet for the New Zealanders with Dame Lisa and Alicia Hoskin also winning Gold in the Women’s K2 500.
The NZ Sevens teams have been hard at work starting off the month over in Singapore, with both teams winning the same tournament for the ninth time in their history.
The Black Ferns Sevens defeated Australia 31-21 in an exhilarating Cup final while the All Blacks Sevens foiled the emerging force of Ireland 17-14 in an equally gripping climax.
The teams both bowed out in the semi-finals of the Madrid tournament later in the month, showing just how tough and competitive Rugby Sevens is currently.
This month saw 100m Sprinter Zoe Hobbs win the Women's 100m with a time of 11.17 at the Golden Grand Prix in Tokyo. Tori Peeters also won bronze in the Women's Javelin with a seasons best of 61.26m.
Wellington's James Preston was another standout performer, setting a New Zealand men's 800m record with a time of 1:44.04
at the Merck Running Festival in Pfungstadt, Germany. His achievement surpassed the 62-year-old national record previously held by Sir Peter Snell, which was also a world record at the time.
At the Rowing World Cup II in Lucerne, New Zealand rowers showcased their preparation, as Jackie Kiddle and Shannon Cox secured silver in the Lightweight Women's Double Sculls. Matt Macdonald, Tom Murray, Oliver Maclean, and Logan Ullrich earned silver in the Men's Four, while Emma Twigg secured bronze in the Women's Single Sculls.
Also this month, Paris selected athlete Finn Butcher competed in the Canoe Slalom World Cup over in Augsburg, Germany and brought home silver!
May ramped up in terms of selection announcements for the New Zealand Team with Raglan’s Billy Stairmand and Gisborne’s Saffi Vette throwing shakas as they were named to compete at the Olympics.
Prior to the announcement the surfers spent two weeks training at the Olympic venue of Teahupoʻo in Tahiti, which is regarded as one of the most epic reef breaks in the world. Paris will be the second Olympic Games for eight-time National Champion Stairmand, while it will be the debut of Vette who recently secured a place on the coveted World Surf League Challenger Series, alongside some of the best surfers in the world.
Next-up we had Women’s artistic gymnast Georgia-Rose Brown named to the New Zealand Team for Paris 2024. The 29-year-old earned her Paris spot by topping the rankings at the 2024 apparatus World Cup series on the uneven bars. While the uneven bars are her primary event, she will compete in the all around competition (vault, uneven bars, beam, and floor) at the Olympics.
Weightlifter David Liti will be chasing a personal best when he takes to the South Paris Arena to represent New Zealand at the Olympic Games.
27-year-old Liti was named to the New Zealand Team, to compete in the men’s +102kg division. The selection announcement was held at a Ryman Retirement Village where residents were taken through a lifting class with Liti and Coach Tina Ball, and had plenty of photo opportunities with the weightlifter. 98 year-old resident Mary (pictured above), even got her dancing shoes on with David - you can watch the video here.
Greta Pilkington is set to become the first New Zealand sailor to compete in the women's single-handed discipline at the Olympic Games in over a decade, when she lines up in Marseille in early August.
The young sailor has been named to the New Zealand Team and will make her Games debut in the ILCA6 class, previously known as the Laser Radial. The 21-year-old Aucklander is the 10th member of the sailing team to be confirmed for the Olympics.
It’s been a big month for Wellington runner James Preston. Within one week, the 27-year-old broke the late Sir Peter Snell’s NZ record in the 800m. Two days later he woke up to confirmation he’d been named to the New Zealand Team for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The 2024 campaign has been a breakout year for Preston. In March, he ran a NZ 800m indoor record of 1:47.59 at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow. Later that month he made a huge breakthrough to climb to number two on the all-time NZ lists, running 1:44.87 to win the New Zealand national title in Wellington – and also come within 0.17 of the Olympic entry standard mark. Amazing James!
Shooting athletes Chloe Tipple and Owen Robinson have been named to the New Zealand team for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. For skeet shooter Tipple, Paris will be her third Olympic Games following Rio and Tokyo, while trap shooter Robinson will make his Games debut.
“I’ve been trying to make the Olympic team for 12-years and I’ve been so close to making it previously but just missed out. For it to finally be happening is pretty special.”
An 18-strong rowing team, including nine athletes who have won World Championship or Olympic medals, has been named to represent New Zealand at the Paris Olympic Games next month.
Tokyo Olympic champion Emma Twigg is the most experienced team member and will become the first ever New Zealand rower to compete in five Olympic Games. The 37-year-old says it's been a huge journey since she competed as a 21-year-old in the Women’s Single Sculls at the Beijing Games in 2008.
The full team is available here.
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