New Zealand Listener – August 10, 2019

LISTENER AUGUST 10 2019

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I

n historian James Belich’s

2001 book Paradise

Reforged, he wrote, “There

are only two spheres in

which New Zealand has

been a world superpower.

One is the export of pro-

tein. The other is sport.”

During the Listener’s 80-year

existence, New Zealand has

changed out of all recogni-

tion from being, as Belich put

it, “homogeneous, conform-

ist, masculist, egalitarian and

monocultural” and “subject to

heavy formal and informal

regulation”, to ethnically

diverse, lightly regulated

and largely open-minded.

Sport itself has changed

as a consequence of that

socio-economic transfor-

mation and the advent of

professionalism and pay

television. One thing that

has remained constant is this

country’s capacity for produc-

ing outstanding sportsmen

and women and generating

memorable sporting moments.

ON THE STROKE

OF EIGHT

Defying the odds, overcoming adversity and winning with

panache are how sporting legends are made. by PAUL THOMAS

80 YEARS

On the rampage: Jonah

Lomu. Far left, in action

against England in the

1995 Rugby World Cup

semifinal.

Here are eight examples

from the past eight decades,

selected on criteria that

include athletic achievement,

emotional impact and endur-

ing significance. Apologies

to those great athletes, from

Valerie Adams to Valerie

Young, who didn’t make the

cut. As always, you can tell the

quality of a line-up by those

who missed out.