Surfer Saffi Vette is the first Gisborne athlete in action at the Paris Olympic Games, although she will be competing in Tahiti 15,700km away from the French capital. Photo / Neil Reid
Surfer Saffi Vette is the first Gisborne athlete in action at the Paris Olympic Games, although she will be competing in Tahiti 15,700km away from the French capital. Photo / Neil Reid
Two years ago after winning a Commonwealth Games bronze medal, young Gisborne judoka Sydnee Andrews vowed she would wear the silver fern at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
She was right.
The 21-year-old will have family, friends and Gisborne Judo Club members glued to the television next week when she competes in the over-78kg women’s weight class at the Champs-de-Mars Arena.
Andrews, based in Britain, is one of three Gisborne women adding to the region’s rich Olympic Games history.
Alicia Hoskin is competing in the canoe sprints while surfer Saffi Vette will take on the fearsome Teahupoo break in Tahiti – 15,700km away from the Games Village in Paris.
Alicia Hoskin (left) and Dame Lisa Carrington are competing as a crew in the canoe sprint K2 500m and are also part of the K4 chasing gold after winning the world title. Photo / Ben Dickens
A fourth Gisborne athlete, teenager Ishtar Mackey-Huriwai, is competing in the demonstration sport of Muay Thai at the Boxing House in Olympic Park.
Vette is the first of the Gizzy girls in action.
Her round 1 heat is scheduled for 1.24pm tomorrow (NZ time). She will be up against Spaniard Nadia Erostarbe and China’s Siqi Yang.
Erostarbe is sixth on the World Surf League Challenger Series and is in the hunt to qualify for next year’s Championship Tour.
Surfing prodigy Yang became China’s first Olympic surfer at the age of 14.
Andrews hits the mat next week with the round-of-32 eliminations from 8pm on Friday.
She faces seasoned performer Laris Ceric, of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a former world junior champion competing in her third Olympics.
Gisborne judoka Sydnee Andrews is welcomed home after her bronze medal-winning performance at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane. Two years on she is vying for more medal glory - this time at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Photo / Paul Rickard
Hoskin’s bid to emulate the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics gold medal-winning heroics of Gisborne greats Alan Thompson and Grant Bramwell starts on Tuesday, August 6, at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.
Hoskin, Dame Lisa Carrington, Olivia Brett and Tara Vaughan will line up in the hearts of the women’s K4 500m in which they are among the favourites for gold as the reigning world champions.
Their heat is scheduled for 8pm.
Hoskin and Carrington will return to the water for the K2 500 heats at 10.10pm.
The K2 quarter-finals are on August 7 at 12.10am; the semis are on August 9 at 8.50pm, followed by the final at 11.10pm that night.
The K4 semifinals are at 9.40pm on August 8, followed by the final at 11.40pm.
Ishtar Mackey-Huriwai, pictured with mother Melissa Mackey-Huriwai and grandfather Taka Mackey, will be among the 1000 martial artists involved in the demonstration sport of Muay Thai at the Paris Games. Photo / Paul Rickard
Mackey-Huriwai will fight in an under-60kg bout at the Boxing House in Olympic Park. The Muay Thai fights are being held over two days (August 5-6 local time), but the demo sport will also feature workshops and exhibitions for about 1000 selected competitors from 24 nations.
Gisborne kayaker Zach Ferkins is on the sidelines as injury cover for the canoe sprint men’s crews; triathlete Tayler Reid has been helping prepare the New Zealand team for the individual and relay races; and Kelsey Teneti headed to France as reserve cover for the New Zealand women’s sevens team.
Meanwhile, the Tairāwhiti presence at the Games has been enhanced with Sir Derek Lardelli and Lady Rose Lardelli attending in a cultural capacity.
A haka, titled Pou Tangata and created for New Zealand by Ta Derek, was performed at the naming of the New Zealand flagbearers for the Games opening ceremony, with that honour going to track cyclist Aaron Gate and sailor Jo Aleh.
Gisborne woman Diana Dobson is also in Paris, adding to her New Zealand media team roles from previous Olympic Games.
New Zealand has 195 athletes competing in 23 sports.
