With the sporting world put on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic, some took the moment to shine while others brought the wrong sort of attention to themselves.
Joseph Parker
The former WBO heavyweight champion was one of a large number of athletes and coaches producing videos for their fans during the lockdown. But while most were making workout videos, Parker put his dancing shoes on.
Videos of Parker dancing – one in which he got some famous friends to dance the Time Warp with him (remotely of course) – presented the Kiwi boxer in a new light. Generally a quiet presence who pops up every now and then when news of a fight breaks, Parker took the opportunity in lockdown to show some personality and give his stocks a major boost with fans.
But it wasn't just the fans, but the media as well. Back home in Auckland, Parker has made himself extremely accessible for interviews and guest spots, including appearances on Marc Peard Sports' Daily Debrief Facebook show and TVNZ's Have You Been Paying Attention?
UFC
Promotion boss Dana White took on the world and won. Trying desperately to find a way to get events back up and running, White went as far as securing an island to make this happen. While the island won't be up and running until June, the UFC confirmed it will return in early May in Jacksonville, Florida, as the state deemed professional sports an essential service. This came after the company had to abruptly cancel an event scheduled for mid-April on tribal lands in California, which was called off at the request of the UFC's major broadcasting partners, ESPN and Disney.
White remained adamant throughout the process that the UFC would be the first sport back and, despite the naysayers and those questioning whether it was the right move, White has achieved just that. Now, through the month of May, the UFC could welcome plenty of new fans as the only form of live sport on to watch. For a businessman like White, that's a huge win.
Closer to home, while middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has been somewhat quiet and enjoying time away from the spotlight while in lockdown, he received some good press with news of him donating protective equipment to health workers in Whanganui, Auckland and Lagos, Nigeria.
Surfing
Bar the odd rebel, surfers across the country showed impressive restraint while in lockdown, with some of the country's top surfers such as Paige Hareb, Ella Williams and Billy Stairmand providing a public voice on the issue. For the likes of Hareb and Williams, who live across the road from their respective home breaks, the temptation would have been there to go out for a cheeky wave or two to keep themselves sharp in case World Surf League competitions resumed sooner than expected, particularly with Hareb playing host to French visitors including fellow pro Pauline Ado, who came to New Zealand for the ultimately cancelled Piha Pro.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Pauline Ado (@paulineado) on
On the topic of the WSL, the layoff seems to have done them some good with a new competition schedule announced for 2021 and beyond. In the past, the qualifying series and championship tour have run interspersed with one another, meaning the top surfers can't necessarily compete in all major QS events.
From 2021, the two tours will run separately which will allow top surfers who have been unable to keep their spot on the CT to compete on the QS in a full capacity. The CT will also be decided in a single day shoot-out style finale, rather than a full week-long event. Now, season standings will get athletes to the final dance, but the title will be won by performance in the water in the last heat of the season. All of these changes will create more interesting narratives during the season and suspense in the all-or-nothing final.
Josh Addo-Carr, Latrell Mitchell, Tyronne Roberts-Davis and Nathan Cleary
Granted there's an argument to be made to simply include the NRL as a whole here given the way they've gone about getting the season back underway and the heat they've drawn because of it. But this quartet of players breaching social distancing orders is just stupid. In doing so, they're saying they aren't taking the situation seriously.
It's even more stupid if they didn't think anyone would find out in an age where people are intent on documenting every moment of their lives on social media – Addo-Carr shared the images of his, Mitchell's and Roberts-Davis' camping trip with several other people on his own Instagram feed. And Cleary dancing on TikTok videos with a group of women – what good could possibly come of that? And then rather than own up straight away he went out and said he didn't know he was on camera? It's probably a week young Nathan will want back.
What's even more stupid still is the fact the incidents came just a week after coaches were told they could risk competition points if players broke isolation rules.
Kyle Walker
The Manchester City defender and a friend hosted a couple of escorts at his apartment one night, and he had the audacity to release a video asking people to stay home. "Check on loved ones but don't visit them" he said. Walker was found out after UK media outlet The Sun obtained photos of him taken by one of the escorts.
The Daily Star later reported England coach Gareth Southgate said he won't consider Walker for the national squad selection again because of his actions.
Crusaders
When it came to abiding by lockdown rules, even the Crusaders weren't above scrutiny from the locals. A group of players – from at least two different 'bubbles' - were caught training and throwing a ball around during lockdown, including All Blacks star Richie Mo'unga, whose bubble included his pregnant wife. "They were looked at by everyone in the park, getting the side eye," a witness told Newshub.
Their decision was blasted by New Zealand Rugby as "unacceptable", and earned them a not-so-pleasant shoutout from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern during one of her Covid-19 daily briefings.
"It flies directly in the face of the advice we are giving," Ardern said. "I would just say to people in positions like that, we are relying on everyone to role-model the behaviour we need right now. We are all in this together.
"I'm really asking for leaders in our sporting codes to join us in this, because we can't do it alone. No one can be exempt."
Kara-France joined the UFC in 2018 when the flyweight division was in a state of flux.