Female athletes dominate the Halberg Award finalists which have been announced today.
In the team of the year category four of the five finalists are female teams with the Black Caps the only male team to earn a nomination.
The Black Ferns Sevens, world series champions, the world champion Silver
Ferns, the world champion women's rowing eight and the women's rowing double of Olivia Loe and Brooke Donoghue, also world champs, are all finalists for the team award.
In the sportsman of the year category, there are no All Blacks with UFC titleholder Israel Adesanya breaking through for mixed martial arts alongside Black Caps skipper Kane Williamson, Supercars and Bathurst champion Scott McLaughlin and shot putter Tom Walsh, who claimed bronze at the world championships and the Diamond League tuitle.
Motocross World Championship winner Courtney Duncan, canoe racer Lisa Carrington, Silver Ferns captain Laura Langman (netball) and Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, who produced New Zealand's first Snowboarding World Championships gold medal, are the finalists for sportswoman of the year.
