Cycling
New Zealand has a new World Champion with track cyclist Corbin Strong taking gold in the points race.
Competing at the Track Cycling World Cup in Berlin, Strong who led for much of the 40km event, cemented the title when he went with a three-strong break in the final laps to claim a bonus 20 points to secure his rainbow jersey title.
It is the first time a male New Zealand rider has won a points race world championship.
It was the 19-year-old’s second medal of the championships, after earlier winning the silver with the New Zealand men’s team pursuit.
Above: the men's team pursuit in action
New Zealand riders Aaron Gate and Campbell Stewart were the other Kiwis to pick up a medal, digging deep to win silver in the Madison.
Gate launched Campbell for the final sprint in the gruelling 200-lap 50km two-person race as the Vantage elite team edged out Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands by the narrowest of margins for the silver medal.
Equestrian
It’s two from two for our Kiwi showjumpers who snatched another slice of history with back to back wins in the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup in the UAE.
Daniel Meech and Cinca were the only double clear, with Tom Tarver aboard Popeye and Bruce Goodin on Backatorps Danny notching a clear in the opener followed by four faults in the second. Richard Gardner and Calisto had an unfortunate parting of the ways in the first round.
The trio of clears in the opening round saw then tied at the top with the UAE going into the second. In the end New Zealand edged out Egypt by four faults from the best three rounds, to take the win, followed by the UAE, Germany, Syria, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The Kiwis were ecstatic. Bruce was absolutely thrilled to win again in Abu Dhabi. “It is pretty awesome to be able to come back and win it for the second time so we are obviously all very happy. It was a good competition.”
Sevens
The All Blacks Sevens have held off a strong Australian performance to secure the bronze medal in at the USA Sevens in LA.
Etene Nanai-Seturo opened up the scoring for New Zealand, making a huge bust up the midfield to leave defenders in his wake.
Tone Ng Shiu then made a superb break and popped a chest pass to Akuila Rokolisoa who scored under the posts.
Australia replied with two quick tries to level the score 14-14 at half time.
The toing and froing continued in the second half but a missed conversion made the difference and the All Blacks Sevens managed to hold on for a 21-19 victory.
Earlier in the day, New Zealand went down 17-0 to South Africa in the semi-final. South Africa went onto win the final in extra time, 29-24 over Fiji.
In the overall standings, the All Blacks Sevens still lead with 93 points, but South Africa have closed the gap to just five points, while Fiji are in third place with 72 points.
Tim Mikkelson had a tournament to remember as he became the most capped All Blacks Sevens player ever and he also moved to third on the all-time top try scoring table, with 232 tries.
Above: Tim Mikkelson in action
The series moves to Vancouver next weekend.
Hockey
The men’s and women’s Black Sticks were both in action over the weekend, playing two double headers against Argentina in Christchurch.
Both New Zealand sides recorded a win and a loss.
The men’s side took down a fiery Argentinian side 3-1 on Friday night but were unable to keep up on Sunday, defeated 6-2.
Meanwhile the women’s side lost in a penalty shootout against Argentina on Friday night after initially tying the match 1-all.
The team bounced back in its match on Sunday, a 5-3 win seeing them jump back ahead of Argentina into second on the Pro League standings.
The games conclude the New Zealand leg of the Pro League with the teams off to Europe for the next leg.
Karate
Karate athlete Andrea Anacan has placed 7th at the K1 event in Salzburg, Austria.
On Instagram Anacan posted “I’m so honoured to represent my country in these tournaments. Let’s go NZ!”
Karate makes its Olympic debut in Tokyo and Anacan is working towards representing New Zealand at the Games.
Weightlifting
Megan Gifford has lifted a personal best at the Australian Weightlifting Open.
The Auckland based lifter hoisted a 94kg snatch to set the personal best.
On Instagram Gifford said “This is why I do what I do, these moments are everything.”
Triathlon
New Zealand’s elite females have at the Oceania Triathlon Championships in Tasmania.
Ainsley Thorpe placed first in the female division with Andrea Hewitt in second and Sophie Corbidge in third.
In the men’s division Tayler Reid placed fifth with Dylan McCullough first in the junior male division. Brea Roderick placed third in the junior female.
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