. . . standing tall

Our greatest sporting victories ories of the past decade.

1

Cricket match-fixing In December, 2013, the New Zealand Herald revealed former New Zealand cricketers Chris Cairns, Lou Vincent and Daryl Tuffey were under investigation for match-fixing.

It rocked the sporting landscape because previously New Zealand had appeared immune to these sorts of allegations.

Cairns and Tuffey have denied any wrongdoing, with Cairns labelling the allegations “despicable lies”. The stakes are now as high as they can go for him and his accusers, and a verdict over perjury charges against Cairns is expected some time next year. Up to 12 New Zealand cricketers, including captain Brendon McCullum, could be called to the witness stand.

The perjury charge stems from a High Court libel trial in London where Cairns won damages of £ 90,000 and costs against Lalit Modi, the former boss of the Indian Premier League who had tweeted the reason Cairns had been expelled from the defunct Indian Cricket League was because of matchfixing. The official reason Cairns left the Chandigarh Lions in 2008 was for an undeclared injury.

Vincent has admitted his role and received 11 life bans from the England and Wales Cricket Board for fixing during limited-over county games.

2

2011 Rugby World Cup How many surprises could one event produce? First of all, it was here in New Zealand and not in Japan, which had been everyone’s favourites to win the hosting rights. Then there was the shock-horror moment of New Zealand actually winning it.

Everyone had just about given up on the All Blacks at World Cups. They came, they saw, they imploded. But not in 2011. They won despite losing Daniel Carter. They won despite losing Colin Slade and Aaron Cruden. They won despite having to call up Stephen Donald. They won despite Cory Jane and Israel Dagg going out on a massive bender [a HoS exclusive by the way] and they won despite Richie McCaw playing with a broken foot. Hallelujah.

3

Cambo wins US Open Michael Campbell was in unusually consistent form in 2005. He’d made 16 consecutive cuts coming into the US Open — for which he had to make through regional qualifying — but still, when he teed off on his first round, the better bet was that he’d miss the cut. Win it? Don’t be daft . . . he’d have to play four magnificent rounds and see off Tiger Woods who, back then, was the sport’s towering force, the man from whom no one could escape on the back nine on the last day of a major.

Even when Campbell went out in the penultimate pair at Pinehurst, four behind defending champion Retief Goosen, he wasn’t a chance. But he held it all together, carded a one-under 69 — the only man in the last two pairings to break 80 — and pipped Woods by two strokes to become only the second New Zealander to win a major.

4

2010 Fifa World Cup It’s become a question for pub quizzes everywhere: what was the only undefeated country at the 2010 World Cup? Some might guess Germany, Spain, Italy or Brazil. Wrong. It was little, old New Zealand, famous for having only one professional football team and players who went to South Africa without a club contract.

The All Whites might not have emerged from group play in South Africa but what they achieved was remarkable — draws against Slovakia 1-1, Italy 1-1 and Paraguay 0-0. That’s Italy, three-time World Cup winners and defending champions.

For a brief period, names like Nelsen, Elliott, Paston and Reid were well known in the New Zealand sporting landscape. Sadly, they couldn’t repeat the performance in 2013, being well beaten by Mexico in a two-leg World Cup playoff.

5

Valerie Adams’ Olympic gold Valerie Adams was a hot favourite heading into the London Olympics but finished well behind Nadzeya Ostapchuk.

Adams’ coach Jean-Pierre Egger had offered an enigmatic appraisal of Ostapchuk’s performance, saying: “I would prefer to keep silent on this performance, if you understand me.” It was the first time Ostapchuk had beaten Adams in nearly two years.

It soon emerged Ostapchuk had tested positive for the anabolic steroid metenolone, and her coach laughably suggested he sprinkled it on to her cornf lakes without her knowledge.

Adams had already been through the stress of an administrative bungle that saw her name absent from the official start list and was upset she had been denied the chance of hearing her national anthem after

initially finishing second.

There was a happy(ish) ending for everyone except Ostapchuk. Adams had her own medal ceremony at home in Auckland, to much fanfare, and Ostapchuk was slapped with a two-year ban.

6

Kiwi whistleblower After years of saying no, cyclist Lance Armstrong finally said yes. Yes, he had taken performanceenhancing drugs. Yes, he had cheated. His downfall had been years in the making and started when Kiwi former team-mate Stephen Swart courageously spoke when no one else dared of using EPO with Armstrong. Swart was the first to say Armstrong was not the person he claimed to be.

It became messy, fractious and litigious. It saw Swart subjected to considerable bile, yet he remained steadfast. In 2012, Swart was vindicated as the weight of evidence became too much for even Armstrong to deny.

The biggest lie in sport was finally exposed and the American was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles. Not to mention his reputation.

7

America’s Cup 2013 “Imagine if these guys lost from here,” Oracle skipper Jimmy Spithill offered as he sat next to an incredulous Dean Barker when his side were trailing 6-1 in last year’s America’s Cup. “What an upset that would be.”

He wasn’t wrong. It got worse for Oracle before it got better, with the Kiwis extending their lead to 8-1 — only one point from claiming the Cup — before staging one of the greatest comebacks in sport, let alone the America’s Cup. It was compelling viewing, as Oracle found incredible boat speed in the latter stages of the regatta to shut out Team New Zealand.

It led to accusations of illegal modifications, specifically around an automatic control to their hydrofoil trim, and tensions continue to simmer between the two teams but it won’t change the fact it was another lost opportunity for Team NZ to bring home the Auld Mug.

“Facing the barrel of the gun at 8-1 and what do these guys do?” Spithill said of his team. “They didn’t even f linch. ”

8

Salary cap scandal The Warriors have never won an NRL title, much to their annoyance, and in the mid-2000s they attempted to do it illegally. Immediately before the 2006 season, it was discovered they had cheated the salary cap by nearly $1 million in 2005.

The NRL imposed a fine of A$430,000 and docked the club four competition points for the season (they would have made the playoffs if not for the lost points), the first time in 99 years of rugby league in Australia that a team had started a season with less than zero.

Mick Watson, the Warriors chief executive when the salary cap scandal unfolded, finally admitted last month that he was the architect of the breach and that it was done to keep up with other teams.

“For the first three years, we were realistically probably the only clean team in the NRL. I guess as you grow in confidence, performance and results, everyone wants more,” Watson said.

The Warriors weren’t the first and by no means were the last but vowed they would forever play by the rules. They still haven’t won an NRL title.

9

Dixon wins Indy 500 In the 72-year history of the Indianapolis 500, no Kiwi had been soaked in the ceremonial winner’s milk. That all changed on a Sunday afternoon in May, 2008, when Scott Dixon delivered on the promise he had shown since he was a boy.

The then-27-year-old started on pole position at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, led for a race-high 115 laps and took the chequered f lag to pocket a cool $3.2 million.

While he had already captured the IndyCar series the previous year, Dixon’s win at North America’s most famous race capped a journey that began when a chubby, ginger-haired teenager emerged tearful from a crashed saloon car at Pukekohe, revealing a cushion strapped to his backside to help him see over the steering wheel.

The Indy500 win saw Dixon named the 2008 Halberg Sportsman of the Year and it still stands out as his best achievement.

10

Lydia Ko Lydia Ko could dominate the New Zealand sporting scene for the next 10 years and beyond but her achievements in the previous decade are already eye-grabbing.

By now those accomplishments can almost be taken for granted: the youngest player to win an LPGA event aged 15, a career-high ranking of No 2 in the world, seven professional wins to her name as a 17-year-old.

Ko has also captured the hearts and minds of Kiwi sports fans for an endearing demeanour off the course, encapsulated in her video with Israel Dagg in announcing her move to the professional ranks.

She already has one Halberg title to her name — there will surely be more to come — and the rare distinction of being named one of Time

Magazine’s 100 most inf luential people. It’s scary to think she’s only just getting started.

Honourable mentions: 2008 Kiwis World Cup win, Breakers three-peat, rowing’s decade of dominance, Kiwis sleeping pills/energy drinks scandal, cycling’s rise, Ben Fouhy fallout.