Kendall’s push for women rewarded
Barbara Kendall is thrilled at the progress being made in women’s sport and the modernisation of the Olympics.
They have been the goals for one of New Zealand’s most successful Olympians.
Kendall was awarded an MBE in 1993 on the back of her boardsailing gold at the Seoul Olympics and won silver in 1996 and bronze in 2000 in an outstanding career that sees her remain the only New Zealand woman to have competed in five Games.
Today she is recognised for her achievements off the water, being named a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her continued drive for Kiwi and international sport.
Kendall said there was huge gratification for her latest gong that came after 14 years’ involvement with the International Olympic Committee, working on the athletes commission, woman in sport commission and sport and environment commission. She has also served on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s athletes commission.
‘‘It’s a huge volunteer commitment,’’ she said. ‘‘But I’m proud to have been laying down a platform for New Zealand athletes, especially women. We have been working really hard in this area.’’
While there was some frustration at the pace of change, Kendall sensed a global shift and felt New Zealand was making good progress in equalising women in sport.
The bubbly 51-year-old still loves a life on the water and these days devotes plenty of time to surfing. She is vice-president of the International Surfing Association and worked hard to help get the sport accepted to the Olympic programme with surfing to debut at the next Games hosted by Tokyo in 2020. She felt there were still some traditional sports on the Games’ programme that had a sense of entitlement and were ‘‘in need a good shakeup’’.
Surfing’s inclusion was an example of how the Olympics could also ‘‘be relevant, be fun, and be funky’’ to the new generation.
Kendall is an Olympic schools ambassador for the New Zealand Olympic Committee. She was the Chef De Mission for the New Zealand 2018 Youth Olympic Team in Argentina.
With a schedule that often sees her away for 120 days a year, she also feels a need to put a bit more time into her own family and business that sees her advising on leadership training.
That fits in with her sporting philosophy. She has always been very much athlete-driven and a lot of her work has been about developing a career programme to empower athletes for their future.
Kendall, who won 11 world championship medals, was a New Zealand Sport and Recreation ambassador from 1997 to 2012 and also a member of Yachting New Zealand’s board for four years.
International sporting figures were well represented in the honours, with Christchurch swimming coach Roly Crichton made an Officer of the Order, in part for his work with paralympics great Sophie Pascoe.
He is a key member of the Paralympics New Zealand coaching team and in 2014 was the first disabled coach to be named the New Zealand Swim Coaches and Teachers Coach of the Year.
America’s Cup skipper Glenn Ashby has been made a Member of the Order (MNZM), along with squash player Joelle King, golfer Lydia Ko and the late Georgina Salter, the netball stalwart who died this year.
Ashby, who lives in Australia, was the skipper and sailing team director of Team New Zealand for their successful challenge for the America’s Cup in Bermuda in 2017.
King, the world No 4, won two gold medals at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, and a bronze in the mixed doubles. She does work as an ambassador for Squash New Zealand.
Salter, a former Silver Fern, was involved with netball as a player, coach and administrator over a number of decades.