John Walker is one of New Zealand's track heroes. His athletic career was punctuated by memorable performances and noted for its longevity. While the bulk of Walker's success occurred during the 1970s, he continued footing it with the best in the decade or so that followed.
New Zealand athletes prepare for the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Vancouver, Canada. Among the athletes featured are Olympic gold medallists Yvette Williams and Murray Halberg.
The sports writer Peter Heidenstrom rated Yvette Williams as his 'New
Zealand Athlete of the Century'. There is no doubt that she was one of
our greatest-ever athletes - and probably the most versatile.
The 10th Commonwealth Games, held in Christchurch in January 1974, was an odd coupling of 1970s cosmic harmony and cut-throat competition. The song that caught the mood of this was Steve Allen’s ‘Join together’.
Women's sport matured in New Zealand after 1945. Mass participation in a period of prosperity, and increased mobility thanks to the now-common motor car, were crucial factors.
Sports participation and spectatorship were the only daytime leisure activities to rival home-centred pursuits such as gardening in this period. New Zealand's hosting of the Commonwealth Games in 1950 encouraged participation in sport and confidence in our ability to compete at international level.
