In the third edition of the Herald’s series celebrating the top 100 Kiwi sporting moments of the millennium, we’re counting from position 60-41. You can catch up on 100-81 here and 80-61 here.
60) Frenchmen get a ride on The Bus, 2015
The All
On The Up: Counting down the top 100 Kiwi sporting moments of the past 25 years: 60-41
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59) Bond and Murray sign off, 2016
For the 69th and last time, it was never in doubt. The coxless pair of Hamish Bond and Eric Murray triumphed on the Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon in Rio by 2.8s to remain unbeaten in eight seasons, a feat ranking among the finest examples of New Zealand, let alone world, athletic supremacy. Sixty-nine races at 24 international regattas without defeat in the class. No one had completed more in rowing’s history.
In a discipline of such technical nous, they overcame every conceivable doubt in every heat, semifinal and final on every visit to a race course. The last win was the most defining of their careers. With the clinical analysis of Lovelock at Berlin, the raw talent of Loader at Atlanta and the relentless determination of Ulmer in Athens, Bond and Murray dismantled the field once again. – AA
58) Guptill runs out Dhoni, 2019
When M.S. Dhoni is not out in a run chase, India win. So as the 2019 Cricket World Cup semifinal between the Black Caps and India crept towards its apex, India’s main man was the key. Needing 25 off 10 balls, Dhoni had set himself up for one last assault, with India already expecting to head to Lord’s for the final.
When a Lockie Ferguson bouncer was turned behind square, Dhoni set off for two. Roaring in from the boundary, Martin Guptill – enduring a tough tournament with the bat – gathered the ball and threw down the stumps. India’s hero was gone and New Zealand were heading to a second straight World Cup final. – AP
57) The Goat in the boat, 2021
It’s crazy to think about now, but heading into the Tokyo Olympics, Dame Lisa Carrington “only” had two gold medals to her name. Within an hour, she doubled that tally with a third straight K1 200m title, followed by victory in the K2 500m alongside Caitlin Regal. Two days later, she completed the Tokyo hat-trick with gold in the K2 500m to become the first New Zealander to win five Olympic golds.
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“I hate it, but I love it,” she said after the 500m victory.
“The way I approach the 500 is just about emptying the tank completely. It’s just a completely different race and into the headwind, it’s just a bit longer but the strategy has to stay the same for me. It hurt a lot, but that just means I gave everything, so I’m really happy.” – CM
56) Waddell crosses the line and New Zealand breathes again, 2000
Younger readers may not realise how rare a gold medal for New Zealand was back at the start of the millennium. It took until day nine of the Sydney Olympics before Rob Waddell earned our first, and what was to be only, gold of the Games.
He was the quickest through the heats and the semifinals before beating Swiss rival Xeno Müller by just under two seconds in the final. Our first gold of the century. New Zealand have won 33 gold medals since. – CM
55) The ghost that clipped the bails, 2000
Defending just 184 runs in the ODI Cricket World Cup final, things were getting tense for the White Ferns. Australia needed 10 runs from the final two overs with two wickets in hand.
Allrounder Kathryn Ramel bowled one tight down the leg side and Aussie lower-order batter Cathryn Fitzpatrick let it go through to wicketkeeper Rebecca Rolls.
A dot ball. Great stuff. Hold on a minute, says Rolls. One of the bails is off!
Enter the third umpire for a decision in which the barest of margins favoured New Zealand. The delivery had brushed leg stump and the Kiwis had one hand on the trophy.
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To sweeten the moment, some Australian players grumbled about the third umpire’s involvement. – WA
54) A storming comeback for gold, 2012
There are a variety of ways to win a race. You can lead from the front, if you’re good enough, and take the opposition out of the equation; you can engage in a ding-dong contest and get to the line first by a small margin; or you can do it the Cohen and Sullivan way.
Double scullers Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan had form as slow starters. Having found that challenging to overcome, they did the next best thing: ensure that at the business end of the 2000m course they were flying.
Going into the last 500m at the London Olympics, the New Zealanders, world champions in both 2010 and 2011, were fourth, having been 3.4s behind early pacesetters, Slovenians Istok Cop and Luka Spik at the halfway mark.
But they wound it up at the 1500m mark and roared through the field to win. Sullivan was out of his seat, arms aloft before sinking back into his crewmate’s lap. – CM
53) Whitelock’s snaffle, 2023
The 2023 Rugby World Cup quarter-final was the high point in the fiery rivalry between the All Blacks and the new-blood Ireland team. The All Blacks were still smarting from being beaten in a three-test series the year before – and keen to silence the fabulous sledge loosie Peter O’Mahony had put to Sam Cane: “You’re a s*** Richie McCaw.”
The quarter-final was a belter of a game, in which Cane turned in one of the great defensive displays, silencing that sledge beneath smashed Irish bodies. There were plenty of heroes that day, but it was Sam Whitelock who settled the key moment, snaffling the ball in the 82nd minute, capping a 37-phase defensive effort. – WA
52) Two Chrises deliver knockout blow, 2000
Two wins to reach a final might not be the usual tournament format but the Black Caps weren’t complaining after reaching their maiden ICC men’s final at the ICC KnockOut event in Kenya. To lift the trophy, they still had to get by an Indian side featuring Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble.
Ganguly, the Indian skipper, made 113 as his side set New Zealand 265 to win and at 132-5, it seemed an ICC title would elude the Black Caps. But enter Chris Cairns and Chris Harris, who put on 122 and led New Zealand to victory. Cairns finished with a man-of-the-match 102 off 113 balls, clipping the winning runs off his leg with two balls remaining. – CM
51) NZ’s own blade-runner, 2016
The 2016 Rio Paralympics were hugely successful for New Zealand, highlighted by the golden runs by Liam Malone as he claimed two gold medals and a silver in record times. His feats in the T44 400m and 200m finals saw him beat the Olympic records, previously held by controversial South African Oscar Pistorius, and earn the title of New Zealand’s blade-runner.
Malone, who only took up para-athletics at university, would later be selected as New Zealand’s flag-bearer for the closing ceremony. – BF
50) Ekene Ibekwe at the buzzer, 2015
Tied game, 1.3s left on the clock in the fourth quarter. That was where the Breakers found themselves as they looked to close out the 2014-15 NBL finals against the Cairns Taipans on their home court, having already won game one on the road. They ran a great play; Tom Abercrombie ran out to the three-point line in the corner, Mika Vukona provided just enough of a disruption to allow Ekene Ibekwe to get into space, Corey Webster providing a second screen as Cedric Jackson’s in-bounds pass hit Ibekwe in rhythm; the Breakers big man rising up and releasing a mid-range jump shot.
It looked pure from the moment it left his hand; the moment only amplified by commentator Andrew Mulligan’s call of “Pandemonium! Absolute scenes!” as they secured their fourth title in five years. – CR
49) Wagner gets Anderson, 2023
With their backs against the wall, down 1-0 in the series and with talk New Zealand’s golden generation was over, the Black Caps completed one of their greatest test victories. Having set England 258 runs to win after following on, thanks to 132 from Kane Williamson, the final day at the Basin Reserve saw test cricket at its best. At 256/9, England were almost home.
But a never-say-die Neil Wagner delivered the perfect bouncer which took the glove of Jimmy Anderson through to Tom Blundell. The Black Caps had become just the second team in history to win a test by just one run. It was only the fourth time a side had won after following on. Wellington went into raptures. – AP
48) Nico Porteous pops the cork, 2022
Reigning world champion Nico Porteous stomped back-to-back double-cork 1620s in both directions on his first run to score a 93.00, a score that remained untouched for the rest of the event. It was a stunning achievement for the then 20-year-old, who captured bronze in the same event four years earlier in Pyongyang.
Porteous said he had extra motivation to claim gold after watching of become the first New Zealander to win Winter Olympic gold just days earlier. What made the moment more special was that his older brother, Miguel Porteus, also competed in the event, finishing 11th. – BF
47) Ellesse Andrews powers home, 2024
A ride for the ages from Ellesse Andrews saw her power home to win gold in the women’s keirin at the Paris Olympics. Andrews took the lead with two laps left and held on to join Sarah Ulmer as an Olympic gold medallist at the velodrome.
It was Andrews’ third Olympic medal after taking silver in the keirin three years earlier, along with the team sprint silver. She also claimed gold in the sprint in Paris. She said having her father Jon Andrews – a former New Zealand track cycling representative – as her coach made victory all the more sweet. – BF
46) Emma Twigg wins gold at last, 2021
It was fourth time lucky for Emma Twigg as she finally captured a medal, and the best of them all, in the single sculls at the Tokyo Olympics. Having finished fourth at the past two Games, Twigg was determined as ever to capture the elusive gold, producing an Olympic record time of 7m 13.97s. It was also the first time a New Zealand female had won single sculls gold. Twigg said winning gold, having taken a two-year break after the Rio Olympics, was an amazing feeling. – BF
45) The world meets Dame Lydia Ko, 2012
At 14, she became the youngest winner worldwide of a professional tournament at the New South Wales Open in January of 2012. If the golfing world didn’t take notice then, they did later that year when she turned up at the Canadian Open. The 15-year-old amateur opened with back-to-back 68s to take the lead at the midway point of the tournament, which she held going into the final day.
Many expected the pressure to get to her but she carded seven birdies to claim a three-stroke win over the top-ranked professionals in her sport. The Korean-born Kiwi became the youngest LPGA tournament champion and the first amateur to win an LPGA event since 1969. – CM
44) Ethereal wins the Cup, 2001
Any Melbourne Cup win is special and increasingly rare for New Zealand-trained horses.
Ethereal is the only Kiwi to win the Cup this century and did it just weeks after capturing the Caulfield Cup – and so completed Australian racing’s most storied double in the Vela brothers’ blue-and-white hoop colours.
The historical significance was huge with Sheila Laxon becoming the first female to officially train the Cup winner as Ethereal surged past two European gallopers, which subsequent Cups have shown is no easy feat. – MG
43) Michael Witt eventually puts the ball down, 2008
This was the Warriors upset that led to a change in the NRL rules. Under the old MacIntyre system, the eighth-placed team had never beaten the minor premiers in the first week of the playoffs; most had never even come close. And the Warriors had snuck into the finals after a big surge in the second half of the season.
After an extremely tight contest, the defending premiers looked to be home with less than three minutes to play, ahead 15-12 with the Warriors stuck deep in their own territory. But then came one of the greatest tries in the club’s history. Jerome Ropati got outside his marker to surge down the left before passing in-field to a charging Manu Vatuvei. The wing was eventually corralled by three defenders but Michael Witt backed up, dotting down in the corner after a bit of showboating. In an attempt to waste a few seconds, he nearly blew the try – as Ivan Cleary almost combusted in the coaches’ box. – MB
42) Winter gold at last, 2022
Zoi Sadowski-Synnott created history when she won New Zealand’s first Winter Olympic gold with a stunning performance in the women’s slopestyle. Sadowski-Synnott was the final woman to drop into the third and final run. Sitting in second position, she knew she would have to give it everything and that’s what she did by landing a hugely technical rail line and lacing together a frontside double-1080 into a backside double-1080 on the final two jumps, securing the gold medal with a huge score of 92.88.
She described the gold-clinching run as the best of her life. Sadowski-Synnott went on to take silver in the big air in Beijing, adding to the bronze she claimed in the same event four years earlier. – BF
41) Whitelock’s leap
There weren’t many moments in the 2015 Rugby World Cup campaign in which the All Blacks looked seriously rattled.
But as they led 20-18 with eight minutes left in the semifinal against the Springboks, the Old Enemy had a chance to strike and derail the first-ever defence of a World Cup title.
From a lineout near the All Blacks 22, the Boks were set to take the ball and drive to seize a chance at what would surely be a match-winning penalty shot for goal. Victor Matfield – the most dominant lineout force of his generation – called for the ball to be thrown to himself.
Sam Whitelock had other plans. The big Crusaders unit tapped the ball to his well-protected halfback, meaning the reigning champions could get out of trouble, get down field and get some heat back on the Boks. – WA
