Two-time Olympic gold medallist rowers Hamish Bond and Eric Murray have taken out the top award at the reimagined 2021 Halberg Awards.
From top left: Rowers Hamish Bond and Eric Murray, golfer Lydia Ko, swimmer Sophie Pascoe and former All Blacks captain Richie McCaw. Photo: Photosport
With much of last year's sporting calendar sidelined by Covid-19, the event in Auckland on Wednesday night honoured New Zealand's best athletes of the past decade.
All category winners from 2010-2019 were finalists for a decade champion award, with the best of that group named the supreme decade champion.
After earlier being crowned the team of the decade, it was Bond and Murray who were presented with that main honour.
Back-to-back Olympic champions from the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympics, the men's pair combination won the supreme Halberg Award twice during the decade (2012 and 2014).
The duo were also named team of the year in the same years and were eight-time world champions.
Bond and Murray joined a select group of New Zealand sporting legends to be the country's best of an entire decade.
The others on that list were long-jumper and thrower Dame Yvette Corlette (nee Williams, 1950s, middle-distance duo Sir Peter Snell (1960s) and Sir John Walker (1970s), cricketer Sir Richard Hadlee (1980s), swimmer Danyon Loader (1990s) and fellow rowers Carolyn Meyer and Georgina Earl (nee Evers-Swindell, 2000s).
Along with Bond and Murray claiming team of the decade honours, six other decade champions were crowned in the usual Halberg categories.
Canoe racing star Lisa Carrington beat out shot putter Dame Valerie Adams and golfer Lydia Ko to be named for the sportswoman prize, while former All Blacks captain Richie McCaw took out the sportsman award.
Ko didn't miss out, though, being named emerging talent of the decade, while Carrington's coach Gordon Walker took out the coaching gong.
Six-time Halberg winner and 15-time Paralympic medallist swimmer Sophie Pascoe collected the para athlete of the decade prize.
The fan-voted sporting moment of the decade went to rowers Joseph Sullivan and Nathan Cohen for their thrilling come-from-behind gold in the men's double sculls at the 2012 London Games.
The other award handed out was the Sport NZ leadership prize, which went to New Zealand Football president Johanna Wood for rise up the governance ranks of that sport.
Halberg Awards Decade Champion winners and finalists:
- Decade Champion: Men's Pair, Hamish Bond and Eric Murray (rowing)
- Team of the Decade: Men's Pair, Hamish Bond and Eric Murray (rowing)
- Para Athlete of the Decade: Sophie Pascoe (Para swimming)
- Sportswoman of the Decade: Lisa Carrington (canoe racing)
- Sportsman of the Decade: Richie McCaw (rugby)
- Coach of the Decade: Gordon Walker (canoe racing)
- Emerging Talent Athlete of the Decade: Lydia Ko (golf)
- New Zealand's Favourite Sporting Moment of the Decade: Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan (rowing)
- Sport New Zealand Leadership Award: Johanna Wood (football)