People's Choice: Tammy Jenkins a proven match winner

The Northern Advocate People's Choice Award category in the Konica Minolta Northland Sports Awards is focusing on past Olympians. We are profiling the 13 Olympians you will shortly be asked to vote on. The winner will be announced at the awards on November 30. Today ... Tammy Jenkins

Sharon Tina Jenkins or Tammy - as she is known to everyone - is one of only two Olympic Badminton representatives that Northland has ever produced.

The Kawakawa athlete represented New Zealand at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, and the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta - both in women's doubles paired with Auckland's Rhona Robertson.

Robertson was already an Olympian and it was a measure of Jenkins' potential that saw national coach Chris Bullen match them together in 1991.

The fledgling pairing was sent to Europe to develop but lost every tour match they played in the first round. However a good friendship sprung up between them and they stuck it out together.

The following year they reached a final of a small tournament and from then on became a combination to fear displaying a great understanding on the court - Robertson was the finisher and Jenkins the crafty playmaker.

The pair won no less than five national open titles together while Jenkins also took two mixed doubles titles with Brent Chapman and Dean Galt.

Their women's doubles bronze medal at the 1998 Commonwealth Games was a career highlight and four years later at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, Jenkins won another bronze medal in the mixed doubles event with Chris Blair.

Jenkins now lives in Australia.