Steve Hollander, Riki Paewai, Kris Richards and Margaret Kouvelis. Photo / Supplied
Steve Hollander, Riki Paewai, Kris Richards and Margaret Kouvelis. Photo / Supplied
Te Marae o Hine Palmerston North's Square hosted record-breaking events during the Ford Ranger New Zealand Rural Games this weekend.
About 42,000 people attended the three-day event where athletes competed across a range of rural sports, including wood chopping, coal shovelling and sheep shearing.
However, it was the gumboot throwingand egg throw and catch events that ended up breaking New Zealand records.
Riki Paewai and Kris Richards set a new record for the New Zealand Egg Throw and Catch at 66.3m – the first time it had been broken since 2016.
The pair surpassed Brent Newdick and Luke Wainui's 2016 record of 63.7m by a massive 2.6m.
"The sun was shining all weekend, and we were lucky enough to see two New Zealand records broken."
The weekend also successfully introduced this year's focus of introducing young people to rural careers and sports, Hollander said.
"On Friday, we had 420 students attend our inaugural Westpac Agri Futures, and a further 240 students competed in the Allflex Clash of the Colleges. We wanted to introduce a youth focus to encourage young people in rural careers and rural sports."
The Stihl Timbersports championships were also held over the weekend, with women, men and rookies competing to represent New Zealand at the international championships.
"It was fantastic to have greater numbers of timbersports competitors at the Games, especially the rookies and women competitors alongside the men – the public got to see the high level of professionalism in this sporting code," said Hollander.
A one-hour television programme will air on TV3 on March 27 at 5 pm.
Curly Troon and Kristin Churchward. Photo / Supplied
Ford Ranger New Zealand Rural Games results
Stihl Timbersports
• 1st Men's Championship: Jack Jordan – 75 points
• 2nd Men's Championship: Kyle Lemon – 62 points
• 3rd Men's Championship: Jason Wynyard – 58 points
