LockerRoom writer and former Olympian Sarah Cowley Ross’ 24 reflections on a pretty darned fine 2024 for Kiwi women’s sport
Sarah Cowley Ross for LockerRoom
1. Dame Lydia Ko clocked golf in 2024. Winning an Olympic gold medal in Paris to complete her set (bronze in Tokyo, silver in Rio), Ko then had the necessary requirements to be inducted into the LGPA Hall of Fame at just 27. Two weeks after the victory in Paris, she won the AIG Women’s Open, one of golf’s five majors, to go with the three other LPGA tour event victories in 2024. What a year for the golf phenom.
2. After a challenging few years, Alice Robinson was in blistering form with five podiums in the giant slalom across the 2024 season. The Queenstown skier is now coached by Nils Coberger (brother of New Zealand’s first winter Olympic medallist, Annelise) and 2010 Winter Olympian Tim Cafe, and has started the 2025 World Cup season with a second in Solden, Austria.
3. The first Kiwi to achieve a world No 1 ranking in tennis, doubles specialist Erin Routliffe capped off a huge year winning the WTA finals in Saudi Arabia. One of our highest-paid sportswomen, New Zealand-born Routliffe proudly teamed up with Lulu Sun at the Paris Olympics. Sun transferred her allegiance to New Zealand at the start of 2024 and ended the year as the WTA Newcomer of the Year. Te Anau-born Sun had an outstanding year making the Wimbledon quarterfinals and broke into the world’s top 40. Look out for both wāhine at the ASB Classic after Christmas.
4. One of the nation’s most-loved teams, the Black Ferns Sevens went back to back at the Stade de France, defending their Olympic title by defeating Canada in a final-worthy battle, 19-12. The infectious wairua of this team has other nations and sports teams in envy. Playing the final with multiple facial fractures, co-captain Sarah Hirini defied the odds after rupturing her ACL seven months before Paris to make a massive comeback at the Games.
5. Better headlines are required for the Football Ferns in 2025. A tumultuous year - including the unfortunate Canadian Drone-gate saga at the Olympics, New Zealand Football must do better for this team.
6. New Zealand Paralympics flagbearer Anna Grimaldi had high hopes in Paris of winning a third gold medal in the long jump, but finished a devastating fourth. Grimaldi then bounced back days later to claim a defiant gold in the 200m sprint with a beaming smile to light up her hometown of Dunedin. All of the Paralympic Team, led by chef de mission Raylene Bates, gave New Zealand something to talk about with their inspiring performances and their journey to Paris.
7. We salute those who gave so much joy to sports fans and Kiwis and are officially retiring from wearing the silver fern in 2024 – Portia Woodman-Wickliffe, Tyla King, Kerri Williams, Luuka Jones, Lisa Adams and Hannah Wilkinson.
8. Written off with odds you wish you’d put a tenner on, the White Ferns’ victory at the T20 World Cup was phenomenal. Led by Sophie Devine in her last outing as New Zealand T20 captain, the mix of experience and youth all stepped up to beat South Africa in the final by a mighty 32 runs. All-rounder Melie Kerr, who wrote when she was a youngster she wanted to win a World Cup and be a match-winner, had her dream come true with the title and collecting the player of the tournament. New Zealand Cricket confirmed each player received a $256,000 payment for the win – not a bad payday on top of their NZC contracts!
9. The dominance of the Kiwi riders in the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome was spearheaded by Ellesse Andrews – collecting two Olympic golds and a silver in the team sprint with Shaane Fulton and Rebecca Petch. The effervescent Andrews proved she’s not to be trifled with one of the most ferocious start-line stare-downs in 2024 eyeing up German Lea Friedrich in the individual sprint race – definitely worth a rewatch! Ally Wollaston’s bronze in the omnium to take the Kiwi medal tally to 20 was a fitting way to close out the Olympic campaign. In seventh leading into the last event, Wollaston smashed the points race to catapult onto the podium, adding to the silver she won in the team pursuit with teammates Bryony Botha, Emily Shearman and Nicole Shields. Later in the year, Wollaston became the first Kiwi to win two world titles at the same world track championship (in the omnium and the elimination race).
10. For the first time in Olympic history, 50% of the competing athletes at the Paris Games were women. The Paralympic gender percentage continues to improve with 45% of the athletes female. The statistics around team leadership and coaching are far from level – so expect to see more IOC and IPC-led initiatives to support female development in these areas ahead of Los Angeles and Milano-Cortina in 2028.
11. Leading the competition until the second-to-last throw, Maddi Wesche’s shotput silver medal in Paris came with a new personal best of 19.68m. While there was some confusion over where the 20m markers were compared to the recorded distance, Wesche proved she’s a serial performer with a big game temperament when the stakes are high.
12. In an Olympic best time in the K1 500, Dame Lisa Carrington (the undisputed Goat in a boat) claimed her eighth Olympic gold medal and is now second on the all-time list of female Olympic champions – one gold behind Russian gymnast Larisa Latynina and American swimmer Katie Ledecky. Carrington spearheaded the K4 alongside teammates Alicia Hoskin, Tara Vaughan and Olivia Brett to take down the dominant Europeans, who’ve always held this coveted crown in canoe sprint, as well as the K2 with Hoskin. A nod to the courageous Aimee Fisher in the K1 500 – who came out on top in the World Cup season but couldn’t find another gear in Paris.
13. Best women’s sports books to get into this Kiwi summer: Honey (by our LockerRoom queen Suzanne McFadden), a raw and brilliant memoir of the multi-talented Honey Hireme-Smiler. Lisa Carrington Chases a Champion, by Dame Lisa Carrington. My kids loved this beautiful story and it’s got powerful messages for both tamariki and parents (versions in English and in te reo Māori).
14. With a dominant 6-1 victory for the Paddle Ferns over Italy, the Kiwi women took gold at the ICF canoe polo world championships in China – showing there are so many sporting options out there for our wāhine to try and excel in.
15. Led by the golden mums – with their children Rupert and Kiera in the stands held by their supportive partners – rowers Lucy Spoors and Brooke Francis provided inspiration, tears and an Olympic gold medal in the women’s pair for New Zealand to celebrate. Other rowing success in Paris included five-time Olympian Emma Twigg with a silver in the single scull, and a brilliant bronze for the women’s four made up of Davina Waddy, Kerri Williams, Jackie Gowler and Phoebe Spoors.
16. A thrashing of the Wallaroos for the Black Ferns clinched the O’Reilly Cup in 2024, but it was a year of development for the world champions building into the 2025 Rugby World Cup in England. A hard end-of-year Northern Hemisphere tour – mixed in with a meeting of King Charles that went viral – will provide excellent motivation over the Kiwi summer for the group as they head into their pinnacle event year.
17. The rise in popularity of the WNBA, NRLW, NWSL, WBBL and other professional leagues around the world for sportswomen to be paid to play. (If you know all those acronyms you win a prize). Closer to home, let’s hope the likes of Super Rugby Aupiki, Super Smash, A-League Women and other competitions continue to grow and pay players accordingly. It will be great to have the New Zealand Warriors women’s side back in the NRLW competition in 2025.
18. After losing the Taini Jamison series at home series to England, the Silver Ferns turned their year around superbly with definitive victories over the Aussie Diamonds, both at home and in Australia. In the first three games to take the Constellation Cup the Silver Ferns won by 14, 11 and then 18 goals in Perth to give the Diamonds a thrashing on home soil. With super shooter Grace Nweke unavailable for the national team in 2025 with her move to the NSW Swifts in the Super Netball competition, the Ferns will need to find alternatives to keep the momentum they developed this year.
19. Northern Kāhu, give yourself a clap. A Kiwi professional basketball team making waves round the world as one of the first professional teams to have all-female ownership. Hats off to the ownership group for walking the talk and putting their wallets behind women’s sport – thank you owners Jo Caird, Jody Cameron, Paula George, Rachel Howard and Dani Marshall.
20. A pathway for women at the America’s Cup. Team New Zealand made the semifinals racing in the high-tech foiling AC40 monohulls and look to this regatta to grow. Bravo to Erica Dawson, who won Olympic bronze in the Nacra 17 and went straight to Barcelona for the Women’s America’s Cup along with Olympic teammates Jo Aleh and Molly Meech.
21. Rotorua’s Robin Goomes’ victory at the first women’s edition of the Red Bull Rampage downhill mountain bike event, impressing the judges with two backflips in the Utah desert, was insane viewing (brace yourself for the Go-Pro footage).
22. The evidence given at the coronial inquest into the death of Olympic cyclist Olivia Podmore has been harrowing and hard-hitting. Liv deserved better both in life and in death.
23. The second-youngest winner of the Kelvin R. Tremain Memorial New Zealand Rugby Player of Year (behind Jonah Lomu) was sevens superstar Jorja Miller – a worthy recipient after another huge year on the HSBC World Sevens Circuit.
24. A final nod to you, our loyal and committed LockerRoom readers – Ngā mihi ki a koutou. We appreciate you all for giving us your time when you click on our stories and share them with your communities. Thanks also from Suzanne and I for supporting our podcast, Suze and Sez Sportstalk (SASS Talk) that we launched this year. We look forward to a new season in 2025. It’s been another big year of sport and recreation, so please take a breath, enjoy the festive season doing what you love and we’ll see you back in the New Year ready to shine a light on our incredible women in sport.
This story was originally published at Newsroom.co.nz and is republished with permission.
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