The finalists for the 60th Halberg awards have been announced, with the Black Ferns and snowboarder Zoi Sadowski-Synnott likely to be favourites for the supreme award.
The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony at Auckland's Spark Arena on February 15 and broadcast live on Sky Sport and free to air on Prime TV from 8:30pm.
The event will be both a celebration of achievement and one of remembrance as the first Awards ceremony since the passing of the man whose name adorns this occasion.
The late Sir Murray Halberg (ONZ) re-established the Awards in 1963 to honour and celebrate sporting excellence, and most importantly, the occasion formed the major fundraiser for the Halberg Foundation. Sir Murray died on November 30.
In improving significantly to win the Rugby World Cup on home soil for the first time, the Black Ferns are in the running for the overall award, as is Sadowski-Synnott, who who won New Zealand’s first Winter Olympics gold medal in Beijing.
Black Ferns captain Ruahei Demant is also a finalist as New Zealand's sportswoman of the year - alongside Sadowski-Synnott - and now-retired director of rugby Wayne Smith is a finalist for coach of the year.
60th Halberg Awards finalists:
ISPS Handa Para Athlete/Para Team of the Year: Adam Hall (Para skiing), Cameron Leslie (Para swimming), Corey Peters (Para skiing), Nicole Murray (Para cycling), Dame Sophie Pascoe (Para swimming).
High Performance Sport New Zealand Sportswoman of the Year: Ellesse Andrews (cycling – track), Dame Lisa Carrington (sprint kayak), Lydia Ko (golf), Ruahei Demant (rugby), Zoi Sadowski-Synnott (snow sport - snowboarding).
ISPS Handa Sportsman on the Year: Aaron Gate (cycling – track and road), Dylan Schmidt (gymnastics - trampoline), Nico Porteous (snow sport- freeskiing), Paul Coll (squash), Shane van Gisbergen (motorsport).
ISPS Handa Team of the Year: Black Ferns (rugby), Joelle King and Amanda Landers-Murphy (squash – women’s doubles), Joelle King and Paul Coll (squash – mixed doubles), Kerri Williams and Grace Prendergast (rowing - pair), New Zealand Eventing Team (equestrian).
Buddle Findlay Coach of the Year: Craig Palmer (cycling – men’s track), Gordon Walker (sprint kayak), Sean Thompson (snow sport- snowboarding), Tommy Pyatt (snow sport - freeskiing), Wayne Smith (rugby).
Sky Sport Emerging Talent: Cameron Gray (swimming), Gustav Legnavsky (snowsport - freeski halfpipe), Jenna Hastings (cycling – downhill mountain bike), Joshua Willmer (swimming), Tara Vaughan (sprint kayak).
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