Sporting Moments of the Year Part 2

By many

2024 has been another massive year for sport. Here at Sportsfreak Towers, we’ve each come up with our Sporting Moment of the Year (or four if your name is Ryan Nixon), written in our own words.

Keith Miller (@ArtGuyNZ)

There’s little doubt that 2024 was a great year for sport – the Olympics always helps in that regard.  I’ve tried to narrow it down to a team performance and an individual one.

The Black Caps winning 3-0 in India was not just unheralded, it was a complete and utter shock that came out of nowhere, somehow making it even more incredible. History made.

From an individual perspective, stand up Finn “The” Butcher, whose gold medal single handedly introduced Kayak Cross to the country.  The walking epitome of working your arse off while still staying completely grounded, Butcher became an instant star, thanks to his humility and never say die attitude.

Chelsea Wintle (@heyxie)

I moved to Tawa this year, so when the local-heavy White Ferns took out the T20 World Cup this year, it was particularly delightful. By beating South Africa in the final by 32 runs, the team silenced a level of punditry that occasionally bordered on cruel. In my youth, women’s cricket was almost invisible, and now the team are well-loved, well-established, and have a troop of fans that are entirely their own. So proud.

Ryan Nixon (@newyorknixon)

Lydia Ko wins Olympic gold: Watching Ko secure her third Olympic medal, and become the youngest ever golfer to qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame, made my eyes a bit sweaty. She did it in typical Ko fashion, remaining unflappable as others around her folded, and even a final round double bogey blip on the 13th couldn’t rattle her. Ko is a superstar, who probably doesn’t get the attention in New Zealand she deserves. Especially as she added the British Open shortly after.

Black Caps tour of India: The most improbable of upsets, based on history, form and everything else. That this New Zealand side, with a mix of guys past their sell by date, inexperience, and out of form, and without their star batter, could go to India and pull off not just a single test win but sweep the series, still continues to defy belief.

Scottie Scheffler gets arrested: This one is here for one simple reason – it made me go “what the f**k?” more than any other moment of the year. Scheffler is the best golfer on the planet, but he’s never been accused of being overly interesting. So, the fact that he was arrested, DURING a golf major, was extraordinary. In true Scheffler fashion, he was released from custody, got to the course late, and still went out and shot 66.

Auckland FC: Relative to everything, their whole season so far has only been a moment, but it’s been a wonderful start and everything the city of sails needed after their previous failed football ventures (props to the Yellow Fever for their “city of fails” gag. I laughed). To pack out Mt Smart, succeed on the field, and breed a rivalry with the Phoenix, is what football in this country needed.

Gavin Huet (@gavinhuet)

Liam Lawson replacing Daniel Ricciardo at VCARB in F1: After his cameo last year where he replaced the then injured Danny Ric, Liam has been knocking on the door of F1 and finally Dr Helmut Marko pulled the pin giving Liam the seat for the rest of the season. In a notoriously cut throat sport, and an even more notoriously cut throat organisation that is Red Bull, you cannot downplay this achievement by the Kiwi racing driver.

There is no massive sponsorship deal paving the way for him, and he does not have a team owning father, he has done this the hard way and fully deserves this opportunity. Whilst the Red Bull organisation is yet to finalise their driver lineup in both Red Bull and VCARB for next season everyone believes Liam will still be racing for them in 2025. The big question is which team will he be racing for?

Harbour Heather (@hdiddynz)

My personal top sporting moment is so head and shoulders above everything else that it is almost unfair to rank anything against it. The Blackcaps’ series win in India. Unbelievable. A moment in time that, given recent results at home, seems even more unlikely than it did at the time. Are we even sure it was real?

The White Ferns’ T20 World Cup victory is right up there, though. Any world title in cricket is going to set this cricket-loving heart aflame. The girls were resilient, built momentum, shut out the criticism of their recent track record to become World Champs. Proud of them.

Honourable mentions: Black Ferns Sevens gold medal, Ellesse Andrews’ track sprint cycling medals (plural!), Warriors selling out Mt Smart for the whole season. Next year’s our year. #MatterOfFaith

Note: Nowhere in the brief did it say we had to pick with our heads. These are heart picks, 1000%.

Richard Gordon (@gordo_nz)
Lisa Carrington in Paris: I think GOAT in a boat sums it up quite well. She’s now got double the amount of gold medals than the previous record holder and will easily go down as our greatest ever Olympian – I can’t see us producing an athlete that will top her tally for a very long time. It’s phenomenal what she’s done – to be this consistent at the very top for this long is testament to a huge amount of hard work and drive.

Stephen Gallagher (@SWTGallagher)

I believe it to be Origin 3. I think what New South Wales managed to do up in Queensland has to be commended. They were cooked after the first game, cooked Queensland in the second, and the third was the most “Origin” game we’ve had for years. It was tense. It was low scoring. It was against all odds. And the way they upset Billy Slater’s mob was a thing of beauty. I’ll forever replay that shovel offload from Watson, picked up to Luai, who makes a line break for Best to juggle and score. Remarkable!

Scott MacLean (@madmaclegend)

I mulled this over and really couldn’t split two, so here they are

The first: That long ball from Sam Sutton, the headed flick-on from Oskar van Hattum, the nod down by Kosta Barbarouses as he splits two Melbourne Victory defenders, the ball falling to the right foot of Oskar ZAWAAAAAAAAAAAADDDDAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!! who pings it into the Victory net and Sky Stadium erupts as nervous despair turns to unbridled joy.

The second: Lydia Ko clocking golf by age 27 on the treacherous Le Golf National course in Paris. Sure, there were some nervous moments after she dunked her second at the 13th and threatened to throw away a five-shot lead, but she held strong, finished with a birdie to claim Olympic Gold, complete the set of medals (silver in Rio, bronze in Tokyo), and secure her place in the LPGA’s Hall of Fame in one swoop.