NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather forecasts

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Budget 2025
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Cool Runnings - New Zealand style

Jamie Morton
By Jamie Morton
Multimedia Journalist·NZ Herald·
4 Jan, 2015 04:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

NZ manager Tim Johnson says the team want to do the country proud.

NZ manager Tim Johnson says the team want to do the country proud.

New Zealand and Australia's long-standing rivalry has been put on ice - that being the slick surface of a bobsled track.

In one of the most unlikely transtasman showdowns yet, New Zealand is seemingly re-enacting the movie Cool Runnings in pulling together a team to race the Aussies in the US early next month.

Ahead of the first Transtasman Cup that will be battled for in a series of races at Park City, Utah, and the World Cup qualifying races preceding it, the Kiwi team have put a call out for athletes to join their crew.

The challenge, laid down by Australia's Heath Spence, has caught the team when they are without a brakeman with the races just weeks away.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

But that hasn't stopped the hardy Kiwis from picking up the gauntlet.

"We are completely the underdogs, but hey, what's new, right?" team manager Tim Johnson said.

"There's always the hope you can do your country proud."

While bobsledding has been around for nearly a century, it's perhaps known to most for the 1993 film Cool Runnings and its classic underdog tale of Jamaica's entry in the 1988 Calgary Winter Games.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

That year also saw the entries of New Zealand, which performed the best of the long-shot club by placing 20th, and Australia.

In recent times, however, New Zealand has lagged behind its Antipodean cousin and failed to get teams to the Olympics.

A campaign ahead of the 2010 Vancouver Games lured top athletes such as Chris Donaldson and Carl Condliffe, but flopped after a serious crash and financial struggles.

A lack of resources also denied the 50th-ranked Kiwi team an entry at Sochi last year.

Discover more

New Zealand

World's eyes on Kiwi stars

04 Jan 04:00 PM

"It's the Formula 1 of winter sports in many ways," Mr Johnson said.

"There is a lot of equipment and some pretty heavy costs in transportation, so it's a very resource-intensive sport."

There was little in New Zealand to help prepare a team for the dynamics of a bobsled track, so having training time while at Northern Hemisphere events was crucial.

"In the past, we've had some really great athletes come through showing high potential, but then they get in the back of a sled and it's clear that it's not a good fit for them.

"Right now, we are in a phase of rebuilding ... but obviously we have immediate needs and this [race] is one of them."

Sprinters sought

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Feel the rhythm, feel the rhyme, get on up, it's bobsled time."

So went the pre-race chant of the Jamaican runners-turned-bobsled-hopefuls of Cool Runnings. Now it's the turn of Kiwi sprinters.

Male and female athletes are being sought for next month's Transtasman Cup race as new international rules allow for competitors of both sexes in the four-person race.

Crew members are also being sought to ride in the two-man bobsled in the preceding World Cup qualifiers in Utah.

Ideal candidates would have an above-average build - 85kg-100kg for men and 70kg-85kg for women - and be accomplished sprinters who could provide verifiable 60m or 100m sprint times.

Applicants, who can expect to undergo physical and race training in New Zealand and at the venue, can send their details to recruitment@bobsled.kiwi for consideration.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

'Can't stop our motion': Run It Straight CEO on cancelled events

23 May 08:25 AM
New Zealand

'No other persons sought': Homicide probe continues over 77yo man's death

23 May 08:00 AM
New Zealand

Cook Islands declares dengue fever outbreak, seven cases confirmed

23 May 07:37 AM

The Hire A Hubby hero turning handyman stereotypes on their head

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

'Can't stop our motion': Run It Straight CEO on cancelled events

'Can't stop our motion': Run It Straight CEO on cancelled events

23 May 08:25 AM

The group gave away $3000 in gift cards, sponsor T-shirts, and $1000 cash.

'No other persons sought': Homicide probe continues over 77yo man's death

'No other persons sought': Homicide probe continues over 77yo man's death

23 May 08:00 AM
Cook Islands declares dengue fever outbreak, seven cases confirmed

Cook Islands declares dengue fever outbreak, seven cases confirmed

23 May 07:37 AM
Former top cop 'strongly denies' acting inappropriately over firearms licences

Former top cop 'strongly denies' acting inappropriately over firearms licences

23 May 07:23 AM
Gold demand soars amid global turmoil
sponsored

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP