MAGIC MOMENT: The BikeNZ Men's Sprint Team, of which Dayle Cheatley is the head coach, have been nominated for the moment of the year at the 52nd Halberg Awards.PHOTO/FILE
MAGIC MOMENT: The BikeNZ Men's Sprint Team, of which Dayle Cheatley is the head coach, have been nominated for the moment of the year at the 52nd Halberg Awards.PHOTO/FILE
THE world title victory by the New Zealand men's sprint team, coached by Wanganui's own Dayle Cheatley, is a finalist for New Zealand's Favourite Sporting Moment of 2014 at the 52nd Halberg Awards.
Ten finalists in the sporting moment category, which is the sole Halberg chosen by the public, wereannounced yesterday.
In February last year, Cheatley, the Bike NZ head coach, took a strong Kiwi team to the UCI Track World Championships in Cali, Columbia.
Wanganui had gotten an up-close look at the abilities of the team just two weeks beforehand, when they all competed at the Cooks Gardens velodrome in the International Night of the Stars programme.
In Cali, the trio of Ethan Mitchell, Sam Webster and Eddie Dawkins beat a powerful German combination, the defending world champions, in the gold-medal ride after earlier setting the fastest time in qualifying.
Not only that, they also broke 43 seconds for the first time, stopping the clock at 42.840 seconds, to win their first world title in this discipline.
Other memorable moments in the list include Black Caps skipper Brendon McCullum's record 302 runs against India, V8 supercar driver Scott McLaughlin's humorous faux pas in his "giving it the jandal" interview, and golfer Lydia Ko earning US$1.5 million in one day. Three of the nominees were gold medal winning efforts at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, while team success is also recognised like the Kiwis' Four Nations victory over Australia and Auckland City FC's fairy tale run in the FIFA Club World Cup.
The public can text their vote for the winner to 455 or vote online at www.halbergawards.co.nz or www.radiosport.co.nz.
