Editorial: Sport, trust and the feelgood factor

Opinion

This year's Reader's Digest trust survey has done nothing to dispel the notion that we are a sport-obsessed nation. In a new category ranking the New Zealanders we trust most, sportsmen and women claim eight of the top 10 places.

It is a result without parallel, even in sports-mad Australia. In the corresponding survey there, no sports star found a place in the top 10, not even the world-conquering Ian Thorpe or the often heroic Adam Gilchrist. Australia's trust resides in the likes of burns doctor Fiona Woods and singer Olivia Newton John.

What are we to make of this? Probably no more than that our present crop of outstanding sportsmen and women are also people blessed with outstanding personalities. The likes of Sarah Ulmer (our second most trusted individual), Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell (fourth) and Hamish Carter (seventh) possess the humility that traditionally is a powerful indicator of trustworthiness. But in winning Olympic glory, they also radiated openness, affability, genuineness and national pride.

To a degree, they represent a changing of the guard. Not for them the gruffness, reserve and solemnity of the leading sports stars of a different age. Yet they are also the upholders of certain traditional yardsticks. Not for them, also, a succumbing to big-money contracts. That would equate to overt self-interest, a characteristic sure to attract demerit points.

Most of all, they make us feel good. We are able to hold our heads high on the world stage. We bask in the reflected glory of their gold medals, just as we are thrilled by the international renown of Dame Kiri Te Kanawa (our 11th most trusted individual). And just as we lapped up the Oscar success of film-maker Peter Jackson. He occupies a lofty third on this list, a position doubtless influenced by the patriotism exhibited in his decision to continue to base himself, and his operation, in Wellington.

This list is not, of course, set in stone. Sporting fame is fleeting, and to retain a high trust quotient the young Olympians will have to continue to demonstrate selflessness and generosity of spirit. They will have to show endeavour akin, say, to the marathon muscular dystrophy walk undertaken by squash champion Susan Devoy (our 12th most trusted person).

Even then, they are unlikely to displace Sir Edmund Hillary, our most trustworthy individual. He is the complete package: the conqueror of Everest, and a man renowned for his openness and honesty, immense humility and utter selflessness, as illustrated by his work building medical clinics and schools in Nepal. As with Colin Meads (our fifth most trustworthy individual), his character has also endured as the decades have ticked by.

There are, of course, New Zealanders who, in terms of international fame, dwarf our top 10 most trusted. Russell Crowe, the most obvious, may be number one in Hollywood but rates a lowly 47th on this list (sandwiched between Suzanne Paul and Paul Holmes). He has broken many of the rules.

Too much over-exposure in the media, too many dodgy incidents, too much forsaking of the country of his birth. It matters not a jot that exposure is the very essence of Hollywood stardom.

In Crowe's favour, no one is beyond redemption. We have high regard for people who battle back from the lows of life. Maybe even for a person involved in a particularly dodgy incident.

All Black captain Tana Umaga is 17th on this year's list. He has spent years building trust. Next year's list may show just how easily that commodity can be wrecked.