Japan's Ryo Aono and China's Xuetong Cai were crowned as the overall Snowboarding Halfpipe World Cup champions after winning the men's and women's events respectively at the season ending competition in Sapporo today.

The victory was Cai's second of the season after she won the opening event in Cardrona in New Zealand

Australia's Alyssa Bull and Alyce Burnett rounded off a successful opening day of racing for the hosts at the Oceania Canoe Sprint Championships in Adelaide, securing two Olympic quotas with victory in their K2 500 metres heat.

of fellow Australians Cat McArthur and Jaime Roberts.More importantly, they left behind boats from New

Zealand, Samoa and the Cook Islands to secure two Olympic women’s kayak quotas.Bull and Burnett’s heat

Defending champions Billy Besson and Marie Riou of France overcame testing conditions to win the opening race of the Nacra 17 World Championships in Clearwater Beach in Florida.

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke also charged through to win their half of the qualifying fleet, putting New

Zealand in an early tie with Denmark for first.Rounding out the tie for third is Great Britain’s John

World number one Lydia Ko has become the first golfer to win New Zealand’s Lonsdale Cup in its 54-year-history

 She also collected her second New Zealand Open title, won the LPGA Tour's points race and was

Zealanders and her conscious effort to support the future of the game in New Zealand is hugely admirable

," said Kereyn Smith, chief executive of the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC).

We are excited for what 2016 could bring for Lydia and the New Zealand Olympic Committee is thrilled

Ko today met with Rob Waddell, Chef de Mission of the New Zealand Olympic team, who gave her a preview

Paralympics New Zealand (PNZ) is set to receive NZD$200,000 (£92,000/$133,000/€118,000) from partnering

of support to the New Zealand Paralympic team ahead of the Games, scheduled to take place from September

a nationwide activation featuring New Zealand Paralympians and Para-athletes such as six-time Paralympic

Paralympics New Zealand relies on a mix of donations, government grants and support from business to

the "Bring on the Joy" campaign ©Getty ImagesAll messages captured around New Zealand will be shared

We are honoured to be a major partner of Paralympics New Zealand," said James Kane, country head NZ for

Olympic champions the United States will begin their bid to qualify for this year's Games in Rio de Janeiro with a clash on home soil against Costa Rica tomorrow.

available at the World Cup.South Africa and Zimbabwe have qualified through Africa's tournament, while New

Zealand will be Oceania's representative.Two more places will be available through the Asian Qualification

Kenya has threatened to pull out of this year's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro if the ongoing Zika virus reaches "epidemic levels".

anyone not to attend.Various National Olympic Committees, including those in Great Britain, Australia, New

Zealand and South Korea, have all issued advice for how athletes should respond to the situation.It

Sailing spots at Rio 2016 will be up for grabs at the Nacra 17, 49er and 49erFX World Championships which begin in Clearwater Beach in Florida tomorrow.

the event to select their Rio representatives.World titles will, of course, be on offer as well with New

Iain Jensen of Australia.Both of these teams are helmsman and trimmers for America’s Cup teams - Team New

Zealand and Artemis Racing respectively.The 49erFX class is new to the Olympics with New Zealand's world

Two contrasting but deeply controversial incidents have taken place in sport in recent weeks.The first concerned 19-year-old Belgian cyclist Femke Van den Driessche, a European cyclo-cross champion last year who, after failing to finish the women's under-23 race at the World Championships in Heusden-Zolder, was reportedly found to have had a motor concealed within her bike.

Last week marked the 35th anniversary of an incident in 1981 when, with New Zealand requiring a six

This action, subsequently deemed illegal, prompted a diplomatic row, with New Zealand Prime Minister

Sixteen-year-old Gary Skinner will be the only competitor for Ireland at the upcoming Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer.

across 15 sports, is set to be a huge step up in standard for the teenager.He has, however, raced in the New

Zealand/Australia Cup, the Australian National Championships and various other International Ski Federation

raced for Ireland at Innsbruck 2012 ©Getty ImagesSkinner, from Templeogue, Dublin, was kitted out in New

London's famous Lord's Cricket Ground will host the final of the Women's World Cup in 2017, it has been confirmed.

sides will then qualify for the semi-finals.England last hosted the tournament in 1993, when they beat New

Zealand in the final, also at Lord’s.Australia are the defending Women's World Cup champions ©Getty

Sixty-four curlers from 16 countries will take part in two competitions at the Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, which begin on Friday (February 12).

with a session of tiebreaker games available if required.Group A will feature China, Italy, Japan, New

Zealand, Russia, Switzerland, Turkey and the United States while Group B will contain Brazil, Canada

New Zealand secured consecutive World Rugby Sevens Series victories after overcoming Australia in the

The two rivals had met in the pick of yesterday’s matches, where Wellington Sevens winners New Zealand

Zealand having been alleged to have had eight players on the field.

Zealand had been drawn against the United States in the quarter-finals and secured a comfortable 24

Zealand captain.

New Zealand have now moved onto a total of 69 points for the overall series, the same number as Fiji

Current Series leaders South Africa, defending champions Fiji and England progressed to the quarter-finals of the Sydney Sevens event with 100 per cent records after they all secured three victories on the opening day at the Allianz Stadium.

claim a late draw against hosts Australia ©World RugbyHosts Australia and Wellington Sevens winners New

Zealand were involved in the pick of the day’s matches as the All Blacks fought back from 17-5 down

to secure a thrilling 17-17 draw.Rieko Ioane got the New Zealanders off to the best possible start

from Edward Jenkins, Lewis Holland and James Stannard.That period of dominance from the home side put New

Zealand on the brink of defeat at half-time but they launched a spirited comeback, with Augustine

Brazilian officials have been forced to deny there is any risk of this summer's Olympic and Paralympics Games in Rio de Janeiro being cancelled as worldwide fears of Zika virus continue to grow with six months to go until the event is due to open.

scientists, but Brazilian officials continue to insist there is no threat to Rio 2016 ©Getty ImagesNew Zealand

following the lead set by others, including Britain and Australia.Workshops are being organised by the New

Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) for athletes on the long-list for selection over the next two months