Ted Morgan was a boxer and a plumber, and was the first New Zealander to win an Olympic gold medal.
Born in London, England, an infant Morgan and his parents emigrated to New Zealand. Attending Wellington College, he became a promising boxer, finishing second in the college bantamweight championship in 1921 and the same in the lightweight class the following year.
Arthur Lydiard was a marathon runner and athletics coach, whose most notable students included Olympic and Commonwealth Games champions. He is also credited with stimulating enthusiasm for jogging worldwide.
John Richard Reid was born in Auckland on 3 June 1928. He excelled at sport at school and when he entered the third form at Hutt Valley High School in 1943 he went straight into the First XI and First XV. He was widely tipped to represent New Zealand at rugby and cricket, but his rugby-playing days ended following two bouts of rheumatic fever and a resulting heart murmur.
The story of New Zealand
writing wouldn't be complete without acknowledging the important role sport has
played as a source of inspiration for many New Zealand writers. For some
writers sport is a subject of loathing, but the reality is Kiwis can't seem to
get enough of sports books.
In June 1935 Lovelock returned to Princeton – the scene of his 1933 world record – to compete against the top American milers in what the media later dubbed the ‘Mile of the Century’
The character in the Academy Award-winning film Chariots of fire (1981) was based on Arthur Porritt, who won a bronze medal for New Zealand in the 100 m at the 1924 Paris Olympics.
In an amazing Commonwealth Games 1500-m final, New Zealand’s John Walker broke the
world record yet finished second. Tanzanian Filbert Bayi won in a new world record time of 3
minutes 32.16 seconds.
In a country where rugby is often referred to as a religion, hosting and winning the first Rugby World Cup was a big deal. The story of how the tournament came about mixes the worlds of sport, politics and money.
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. There were few events for women in track and field in the 1950s but Williams excelled at most of them.
