All Blacks not among the fittest athletes
Rower-turned-cyclist Hamish Bond is the lone Kiwi to crack Sports Illustrated’s annual list of fittest athletes in the world.
Two years after All Blacks captain Kieran Read was named 14th fittest man in the ‘‘Fittest 50’’, there was no sign of the country’s world champion All Blacks and Black Ferns in the latest list.
The US publication ranked 32-yearold Bond as the 19th fittest man, behind household names such as NBA stars LeBron James (7) and Russell Westbrook (13), Irish UFC fighter Conor McGregor (9), and Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo (2).
Sports Illustrated assembled an expert panel of high performance experts and physical trainers to compile its lists of 25 men and 25 women from around the world, and made it clear Bond’s ability to switch sports played a part in his selection.
‘‘A two-time Olympic gold medallist in the coxless pair at London 2012 and Rio ’16 and world champion for six consecutive years, New Zealand’s Hamish Bond dominated rowing for nearly a decade,’’ read Bond’s brief.
‘‘But the 32-year-old is now looking to make his mark in a second sport, switching to road cycling with an eye on Tokyo 2020 – clear evidence of his peak conditioning.’’
NFL running back Saquon Barkley, who recently completed his rookie season with the New York Giants, topped the men’s list, followed by Ronaldo, Milwaukee Bucks’ ‘Greek Freak’ Giannis Antetokounmpo, Serb tennis player Novak Djokovic, and French decathlete Kevin Mayer.
In finishing inside the top 20, Bond edged out the likes of US golfer Brooks Koepka (25), 2018 Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas (24) and Kenyan marathon runner Eliud Kipchoge (21).
No Kiwis cracked the women’s list, which was topped by US gymnastics sensation Simone Biles.
US swimmer Katie Ledecky, the most dominant female swimmer in the world, was ranked sixth, while US tennis player Serena Williams was 10th.