Sports Archives - Page 11 of 13

Kathleen Mary Nunneley

Possessed of a powerful forehand drive and a keenly competitive spirit, Kate Nunneley did much to improve the standard of women’s tennis in New Zealand.

Sarah Heap

By 1912 Sarah Heap was regarded as New Zealand’s leading authority on the physical training of girls.

When she died, the Christchurch Press commented that her ‘grip of facts added to an intimate knowledge of European politics and statesmen…had placed her in the front rank of women journalists’. She also excelled as a woman mountaineer.

Lena Matewai Ruru

After her father’s death in 1943 Lena and her brother Eru continued his work, dealing with numerous issues affecting Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki and Te Whānau-a-Taupara land and the Mangatū blocks. She became one of the first women to chair a Māori block committee (Whaitiri No 2), and served on the East Coast Māori Trust Council.

Candace Cable

In 1992, Candace Cable became the first woman to medal at the summer and winter Paralympic Games. During her career, she competed at nine Paralympics and won 12 medals in track and field, alpine skiing, and Nordic skiing. Cable also won 84 marathons, including six Boston Marathon victories.

Margaret Ives Abbott

In 1900, Abbott won the women’s Olympic golf tournament, but she never knew what she had achieved.

Annette Kellerman

In a 1915 press interview Annette Kellerman described the principal motivation at the heart of her successful career as performer, movie star, athlete and role model for the emerging 20th century modern woman: ‘Swimming for women is more than physical, it can engender self-confidence, and in the art and science of swimming, a kind of equality, even superiority to that of men. My chief pride and pleasure has been the knowledge that my work has stimulated an interest in swimming as a woman’s sport’.

Billie Jean King

One of the greatest tennis players of all time and a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient for her advocacy for women in sports and LGBTQ rights, Billie Jean King won 39 Grand Slam titles in her tennis career and led the fight for equal pay in tennis.

Kinue Hitomi

Japanese track and field athlete Kinue Hitomi held world records in several events in the 1920s and ’30s and was the first Japanese woman to win an Olympic medal, as well as the first woman to represent Japan at the Olympics.