Another World Title for Burling and Tuke + hammer thrower Julia Ratcliffe breaks NZ record

Sailing

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke have produced a masterclass performance at the 49er World Championships to claim a sixth world title.

Competing in Melbourne the pair won seven of the 13 races to confirm their position in the pantheon of Olympic class sailing.

"We’ve put in a lot of work over the last couple of years towards this Olympic campaign so it’s definitely nice to see it all come together," Burling said.

"It’s a pretty key event. It’s one that everyone tries to perform at so we are really happy with how we are progressing. It’s really exciting to wrap up another world champs."

Their attention will now switch to the Tokyo Olympics where the pair will be looking to defend the gold medal they won in Rio.

Tuke added: "We are stoked. It’s only been a couple of months since the Auckland World Champs but to do it in Olympic year builds a lot of momentum for us, so we are rapt."

Logan Dunning Beck and Oscar Gunn rounded out a good week for the New Zealand 49er squad by finishing sixth, backing up the fifth they achieved in Auckland, and Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie also finished in the top 20.

Micah Wilkinson and Erica Dawson achieved a breakthrough result in the Nacra 17 by finishing seventh. The pair have been sailing together for little more than nine months and placed 19^th at the World Champs in Auckland in December.

Meanwhile Sam Meech was the only New Zealand sailor who managed a top 10 in the Laser World Championships. The Olympic bronze medallist placed eighth.

Athletics

Hammer throw athletes Julia Ratcliffe was in career best form at the Porritt Classic in Hamilton, throwing 72.35m for a new personal best and New Zealand record. The throw is just 15cm short of the Tokyo Olympic Games hammer throw entry standard of 72.50m.

Above: Ratcliffe in action

Nick Willis was also in action at the Classic. The two-time Olympic 1500m medallist took a convincing first place in the men’s 1500m, crossing in 3:46.71 after a strong final lap. In second was Eric Speakman in 3:49.24 and William Sinclair was third in 3:49.65.

Willis said he was enjoying being back on home soil. “I’ve got four races lined-up and am looking forward to travelling down the country. Auckland next, then Wellington and Nationals in Christchurch, so it’s a great privilege to still be doing this at 36.”

In the shotput a best throw of 18.81m secured first position for Dame Valerie Adams, an improvement on her Tokyo qualifier of 18.65m at the Potts Classic on January 25, followed by Canadians Sarah Mitton (18.30m) and Brittany Crew (17.87m).

Tom Walsh was first in the men’s shot put with a best effort of 21.35, followed by training-mate Ryan Ballantyne with a new personal best throw of 19.64m. In third was Jan Jeuschede of Germany with a best throw of 18.70m.

Canoe sprint

Lisa Carrington has claimed the K1 500 and K1 200 titles at the Canoe Sprint National Championships at Lake Karapiro.

In K1 500 Lisa was pushed every inch of the way by her fellow New Zealand squad members Caitlin Ryan and Aimee Fisher but ultimately prevailed to add the K1 500m crown to the K1 200m title she snared on Friday.

Lisa, the reigning world champion in both events, clocked an impressive mark of 1.48.23s – a little under two seconds shy of the world best time – to retain her national crown.

In an impressive demonstration of the depth in New Zealand female paddling, Caitlin earned silver in 1:50.42 with Aimee Fisher (1:52.54) completing the podium positions. Kayla Imrie, the other member of last year’s World Cup gold medal-winning K4 500m crew, placed fourth in 1:56.37s.

Lisa, who was competing in a first regatta of the year on the road to the Tokyo Olympics, said of winning the national K1 500m title:

“It is never easy. The 500m is always a tough race. You have to be okay with the hurt and try to hang in there. It is nice to able to do what I’ve done in training.”

In the men’s division Ashton Reiser capped a successful national championships by adding the men’s K1 500m title to the K1 200m gold medal he banked two days ago.

Snow Sports

New Zealand Alpine ski racer Alice Robinson (Queenstown) has claimed the second World Cup win of her career, the eighteen-year-old skiing to victory in Giant Slalom in Slovenia.

A blistering second run gave Robionson the lead ahead of Slovenia’s Meta Hrovat and Switzerland’s Wendy Holdener who would finish their day in joint third place. Petra Vlhova was last to race but couldn’t match Alice’s pace and finished in second place, 0.34s behind the young Kiwi.

Alice won the FIS Alpine World Cup Tour season opener in Soelden, Austria in October 2019 and has earned three top-10 finishes since then, including fifth in Sestriere, Italy in January. She went into today’s race with a World Cup Tour ranking of fifth for Giant Slalom.

New Zealand snowboarder Tiarn Collins (Queenstown) also topped the podium in the slopestyle at the Calgary Snow Rodeo on Sunday (Monday NZT).

Opening with a new trick, a switch back 270 on to forward, Tiarn put down a tidy rail line but it was on the jumps that he earned top marks despite a near miss on the cab 1440 nosegrab on the very last jump.

The judges rewarded him with a score of 80.50. Japan’s Ruki Tobita finished in second place on 79.53 points with Canada’s Liam Brearley third on 76.58.

Cycling

An emotional Shane Archbold and excited teenager Niamh Fisher-Black sprinted their way to respective titles at the National Road Cycling Championships in Cambridge.

Archbold, 31, out-sprinted close friend and fellow World Tour professional George Bennett to claim his first national road championship title which brought floods of tears for the rider.

“The title is not something I ever thought would happen especially after the last few years with so many injuries.

“I did not think I could get to George but the race is never over. I would never have put myself in that position with someone on my wheel but I went solo and did it,” said Archbold.

Meanwhile Fisher-Black, 19, was part of a four-strong chasing bunch that caught solo breakaway leader Kate McCarthy within 2kms of the finish of the 108km women’s race in to Cambridge, and then out-kicked her rivals to claim overall honours.

“It was a pretty surreal feeling to put the hands up going over the line. It is amazing,” said Fisher-Black.

Hockey

The Black Sticks women's hockey team are up to second in the FIH Pro League standings after bagging successive wins over the United States in Christchurch at the weekend.

After a winless last weekend against Great Britain in Auckland, New Zealand bounced back to notch back-to-back 3-1 victories against the bottom of the table USA at Ngā Puna Wai Hockey Stadium.

Meanwhile, the Black Sticks men's team lost to Spain 4-1 on Saturday before defeating the same opponents 3-2 a day later.