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Valerie Vili wins gold for New Zealand in the shotput at the Beijing Olympics -
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Outstanding performances by New Zealanders on the world and Olympic stage during the year resulted in 53 nominations being considered for the 2008 Westpac Halberg Awards.
The awards, organised by the Halberg Trust, salute outstanding achievement by New Zealanders in sport both at home and abroad.
Each year the Halberg Trust calls for nominations from all New
Zealand national sporting bodies and a Voting Academy to determine
four finalists for the Westpac Sportsman, Sportswoman and Sports
Team categories.
From those 12 finalists the Voting Academy selects one, by secret
ballot, to receive the supreme accolade for sporting excellence,
the Halberg Award. This will be announced at the 2008 Westpac
Halberg Awards dinner at the Vector Arena, Auckland, on Tuesday
February 3, 2009.
This year the Halberg Trust received 19 nominations for the Sportsman category, 12 Sportswoman, 12 Team and 10 nominations for Coach of the Year. The category finalists will not be announced until early next month so late performances by individual athletes or teams during 2008 can be considered by the Academy.
In addition there were 17 nominations for the Westpac Emerging Talent Award, being presented for the third time, which offers a $25,000 scholarship from Westpac bank to the winner. The four finalists for 2008 are Graham Oberlin-Brown (rowing), Paige Hareb (surfing), Christopher Rahardja (karate) and Jossi Wells (skiing).
The full list of athletes and coaches nominated for the 2008 Westpac Halberg Awards:
Westpac Sportsman of the Year
Tom Ashley (board sailing), Moss Burmester (swimming), Nathan Cayless (rugby league), Scott Dixon (motorsport), Kalon Dobbin (roller sport), Bevan Docherty (triathlon), Mahe Drysdale (rowing), Hayden Godfrey (cycling), Gary Lawson (bowls), Danny Lee (golf), Cameron Leslie (swimming), Simon Mannering (rugby league), Benji Marshall (rugby league), Karl Purdie (yachting), Hayden Roulston (cycling), Manu Vatuvei (rugby league), Colin Waghorn (shooting), Ben Willis (surf life saving) and Nick Willis (athletics).
Westpac Sportswoman of the Year
Luisa Avaiki (rugby league), Nicole Begg (roller sport), Marina Erakovic (tennis), Melissa Ingram (swimming), Sophie Pascoe (swimming), Val Smith (bowls), Paula Tesoriero (cycling), Julia Toomey (surf life saving), Valerie Vili (athletics), Sarah Walker (BMX cycling), Samantha Warriner (triathlon) and Casey Williams (netball).
Westpac Sports Team of the Year
All Blacks (rugby), Kiwis (rugby league), Kiwi Ferns (women's rugby league), Women's Double Scull (rowing), Men's Coxless Pair (rowing), NZ Men's Underwater Hockey, Warriors (rugby league) , Men's Team Pursuit (cycling), NZ Men's Black Jacks (bowls), NZ Men's Pair (bowls), NZ Men's Four (bowls) and NZ Women's Pair (bowls).
Westpac Coach of the Year
Grant Beck (board sailing), Tim Carswell (track cycling), Dave Edwards (bowls), Mark Elliott (triathlon), Kirsten Hellier (athletics), Graham Henry (rugby), Stephen Kearney (rugby league), Hugh McCutcheon (volleyball), Craig Palmer (track cycling) and Richard Tonks (rowing).
The Halberg Awards will screen on TV ONE in the New Year.
