Olympian Valerie Adams champions winter warmth for South Auckland children
The Olympic legend opens up about parenting and the new project that brings a tear to her eye.
Dame Valerie Adams wraps her two kids in warm hugs as they arrive home from school on a stormy Friday afternoon.
Six-year-old Tava is lugging Caleb, his class mascot, a yellow cuddly
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Otago Daily Times
2 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
More recognition for New Zealand's queen of cycling
The most successful cyclist in New Zealand Olympic history has dedicated her latest honour to the people who supported her decorated career - and it isn't over yet. Four-time Olympic medallist and double Olympic champion Ellesse Andrews has been made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) in this year's King's Birthday Honours for services to cycling. The 25-year-old sprinter said front of mind was her parents who were there when it all began. Her father, Jon Andrews, was no stranger to the cutthroat world of elite cycling when he introduced his young daughter to the sport. He won a Commonwealth Games bronze medal in the time trial, and knew the speeds she would be reaching when she raced the steeply banked oval tracks of the velodrome. He also wore the silver fern at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria. While mother Angela Mote-Andrews knew about competing on two wheels as an elite mountainbiker. Currently competing in Japan with the New Zealand team, Andrews said the honour was a bolt from the blue. "It means a lot to me but also really signifies the support that I have to had to get to this point," Andrews said. "Absolutely my family, my friends and everyone has been so supportive and I guess beyond that the community that we have within cycling in New Zealand." Andrews grew up in Luggate and attended Wānaka Primary School and Mount Aspiring College until her final two years when she attended St Peter's in Cambridge. She set new standards in the sport after winning gold medals in the Women's Sprint and Keirin along with a silver medal in the Women's Team Sprint at last year's Paris Olympic Games. She became the first New Zealand cyclist to win two gold medals and three medals in total at a single Olympics. Together with the silver medal she attained in the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games, taking her Olympic medal haul to four medals. The previous best was two medals won by cyclist Hayden Roulston at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. Alongside her Olympic medals, Andrews won the the Keirin title at the World Track Cycling Championships in Glasgow in 2023. She also won three gold medals at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games. While the medals on the track have come thick and fast, she didn't have an honour like this on her radar. "I didn't really expect it at all so it was really a massive surprise to read the email and then to see it come out today - yes, it's a huge privilege." "I'm really proud to have been a part of it and I'm really proud to go out there on the world stage and really to continue to put New Zealand on the map because we have so many talented riders."
Otago Daily Times
2 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Six new dames and knights in honours
A total of 188 New Zealanders who have made their mark on New Zealand have received awards for their services, in the King's Birthday Honours list released today. There are 88 women and 100 men drawn from areas including arts and media, business, community work, education, science, health and sport. There are six new knights and dames. Community wellbeing advocate Ranjna Patel, plant scientist Emeritus Professor Alison Stewart and former equestrian and spinal cord injury advocate Catriona Williams become dames. Former president of the Court of Appeal Mark Cooper KC (Ngāti Mahanga, Waikato-Tainui), Sistema Plastics founder and philanthropist Brendan Lindsay and Air Rarotonga founder and Cook Islands tourism advocate Ewen Smith are the new knights. In the entertainment field, comedian Dai Henwood, children's entertainer Suzy Cato, food writer David Burton and TV host, author and fundraiser Jude Dobson are appointed Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit. In sport, recently retired pace bowler Tim Southee, the Black Caps' all-time leading international wicket-taker, Black Fern double Olympic gold medallist Portia Woodman-Wickliffe (Ngāpuhi, Mgāati-Porou and Ngāti Kahu), double Olympic gold medallist Ellesse Andrews and White Ferns captain Sophie Devine are among those honoured. Former All Black Murray Mexted, who has also been a commentator and mentor, and sports governance expert Don McKinnon are also honoured. Prominent politicians include former National ministers Steven Joyce and Ruth Richardson, former assistant speaker and Manawatū mayor Ian McKelvie, and former Labour list MP Dover Samuels (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kura, Ngāti Rēhia). Mr Joyce and Ms Richardson are made Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit, Mr McKelvie is made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit and Mr Samuels is appointed a Companion of the King's Service Order. Other well-known Māori honoured include tikanga and mātauranga expert Dr Alishia Moeahu (Ngāti Awa, Ngā Tūhoe, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Rangitihi, Ngāti Mahuta, Ngāti Paoa, Ngāti Hikaairo, Te Aitanga a Mahaki, Rongowhakaata, Ngāti Porou); breast cancer expert Dr Maxine Ronald (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Wai); Waitangi National trust chairman Pita Tipene (Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Te Tārawa) kaupapa waka advocate Joe Conrad (Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Kuri, Ngāi Takoto, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Hauā). Pacific recipients include Arthur Anae, Okesene Galo, and Annie Scoon. Prominent figures from the Asian community honoured for their work are Dr Ai Ling Tan, Panchanatham Narayanan and Santosh Prasad Bhandari. — RNZ
1News
3 days ago
- 1News
Olympic boxer to undergo genetic sex screening for new governing body
Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif must undergo genetic sex screening to participate in upcoming events with the sport's new governing body. World Boxing announced mandatory sex testing for all athletes. The governing body specifically mentioned Khelif when announcing the policy, saying the Algerian gold medal winner must be screened before she will be approved to fight at any upcoming events, including the Eindhoven Box Cup next month in the Netherlands. "The introduction of mandatory testing will be part of a new policy on 'Sex, Age and Weight' to ensure the safety of all participants and deliver a competitive level playing field for men and women," World Boxing wrote in a statement. The fighters' national federations will be responsible for administering the tests and providing the results to World Boxing. Khelif won a gold medal at the Paris Olympics last summer amid international scrutiny on her and Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting, another gold medal winner. The previous governing body for Olympic boxing, the Russian-dominated International Boxing Association, disqualified both fighters from its 2023 world championships after claiming they had failed an unspecified eligibility test. The IOC ran the past two Olympic boxing tournaments after the banishment of the IBA for decades of misdeeds and controversy, and it applied the sex eligibility rules used in previous Olympics. Khelif and Lin were eligible to compete under those standards. ADVERTISEMENT Khelif intends to return to international competition next month in Eindhoven as part of her plan to defend her gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics, but some boxers and their federations had already spoken out to protest her inclusion. Chromosome testing was common in Olympic sports during the 20th century but was largely abandoned in the 1990s because of numerous ambiguities that couldn't be easily resolved by the tests, collectively known as differences in sex development (DSD). Many sports switched to hormone testing to determine sex eligibility, but those tests require governing bodies to make difficult decisions on the eligibility of women with naturally high testosterone levels. Three months ago, World Athletics — the governing body for track and field — became the first Olympic sport to reintroduce chromosome testing, requiring athletes who compete in the women's events to submit to the test once in their careers. World Boxing has been provisionally approved to replace the IBA as the governing body at the Los Angeles Games, but it has faced significant pressure from boxers and their federations to create sex eligibility standards. World Boxing announced that all athletes over 18 years old in its competitions must undergo a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) genetic test to determine their sex at birth. The PCR test detects chromosomal material through a mouth swab, saliva or blood. If an athlete intending to compete in the women's categories is determined to have male chromosomal material, "initial screenings will be referred to independent clinical specialists for genetic screening, hormonal profiles, anatomical examination or other valuation of endocrine profiles by medical specialists", World Boxing wrote. The policy also includes an appeals process. ADVERTISEMENT The boxing body's decision is the latest development in a tumultuous period in Olympic sex eligibility policy. The issue of transgender participation in sports has become an international flashpoint, with President Donald Trump and other conservative world leaders repeatedly weighing in. Earlier this year, World Athletics also proposed recommendations that would apply strict rules to athletes who were born female but had what the organisation describes as naturally occurring testosterone levels in the typical male range. In 2023, World Athletics banned transgender athletes who had transitioned male to female and gone through male puberty. World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said he felt confident that the body's new rules would withstand legal challenges. The 26-year-old Khelif had competed in women's boxing events under the IBA's auspices without controversy until the 2023 world championships. She had never won a major international competition before her dominant performance in the women's welterweight division in Paris.
