KEY POINTS:
Most armchair selectors have got their picks to win the 2007 Westpac Halberg Awards sorted out: Mahe Drysdale and Valerie Vili, after outstanding performances by New Zealand rowers and athletes at world championships were reflected in the finalists.
Rowing and athletics are the only sports with finalists in
three of the four categories. Single scullers Drysdale and Duncan Grant, the men's coxless four and coxless pair, women's double scull (team), plus Calvin Ferguson and Chris Nilsson (coach) dominate their categories while athletics has mountain runner Jonathan Wyatt (sportsman), Valerie Vili (sportswoman) and Kirsten Hellier (Vili's coach).
Rugby has to settle for a single nomination - Gordon Tietjens in the coach category. This is the first time since 2000 that rugby does not have a single nomination for the Halberg Award (sportsman, woman or team).
Outstanding efforts off Valencia during the America's Cup have also been rewarded with Team New Zealand (team category) and Alinghi skipper Brad Butterworth (sportsman) among the finalists. In the Westpac Sports Team of the Year category Emirates Team New Zealand is flanked by three rowing crews - the men's pair of George Bridgewater and Nathan Twaddle, the women's double scull of Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell and the men's coxless four.
Four finalists have been named in the new Westpac Emerging Talent category, limited to individuals who have not yet achieved international success at elite senior level, which carries a $25,000 scholarship. They are Emma Twigg (rowing), Danny Lee (golf), Edward Dawkins (cycling) and Brendan Hartley (motor sport).
The awards organised each year by The Halberg Trust, salute outstanding achievements by New Zealanders in sport over the 12-month calendar period. All category winners and the Halberg Award recipient, widely regarded as the ultimate accolade for sporting excellence by a New Zealander, will be announced during a glittering black tie dinner at the Christchurch Convention Centre on Tuesday, February 19.
Finalists in the Westpac Sportsman of the Year category are headed by 2006 Halberg Award winner Drysdale - the first rower to win three consecutive world championship single scull titles - and who must rank as favourite for the men's and perhaps overall award.
Vili, hot favourite to win her category and challenge for the top title, has been joined as a finalist by world BMX cruiser class champion Sarah Walker, world motocross champion Katherine Prumm and world 1000m in-line speed skating champion Nicole Begg.
The Sparc Coach of the Year finalists are Calvin Ferguson, coach of Drysdale and Duncan Grant, Chris Nilsson, coach of the men's coxless four, Sevens coach Tietjens and Hellier.
THE FINALISTS ARE:
Sportsman of the Year: Mahe Drysdale (rowing), Duncan Grant (rowing) Brad Butterworth (yachting), Jonathan Wyatt (mountain running)
Sportswoman of the Year: Nicole Begg (in line skating), Katherine Prumm (motocross), Valerie Vili (athletics), Sarah Walker (BMX class cycling)
Sports Team of the Year: Men's coxless four (rowing), men's coxless pair (rowing), Team New Zealand (yachting), women's double scull (rowing)
The supreme trophy, the Halberg Award, will be chosen from one of the above. The 2006 Halberg Award went to single sculler Mahe Drysdale.