emerging strength of the Brazil in the key sport of track and field.Over two thirds of the delegation in New

Zealand in January finished among the top three in their disciplines which is simply a result of the

By Tom DegunMarch 16 - Sophie Pascoe (pictured), the triple Paralympic champion from New Zealand, is

who lost one of her legs below the knee in a lawn-mower accident aged just two, became the youngest New

By Tom DegunMarch 16 - Jade Jones (pictured), the 15-year-old wheelchair racer widely tipped to be a British star of the future, is hoping to compete at the London 2012 Paralympics - despite Rio 2016 being a more realistic goal.

Athletics earlier last month after an impressive senior debut at the 2011 World Athletics Championships in New

Zealand in January where she made two finals.Jones, who is coached by British Paralympic great Baroness

March 16 – The devastating earthquake which rocked Christchurch last month has also shattered the city's dream of hosting Rugby World Cup games later this year.

Seven matches due to be held at Stadium Christchurch will now be played elsewhere in New Zealand, the

out Christchurch was unanimously supported by tournament owners the International Rugby Board, the New

Zealand Government, the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) and tournament organiser Rugby New Zealand 2011

This has been a hard decision for all involved, given the place of Canterbury in New Zealand rugby and

By Tom DegunMarch 13 - Multiple Paralympic champion Sarah Storey (pictured) cruised to her second victory of the week on a third and final day of action at the UCI Para-Cycling Track World Championships in Montichiari, Italy.

pilot Fiona Duncan posted the fastest pursuit time in qualification and were pitted against much-tipped New

Zealand pairing of Jane Parson and Sonia Waddell.But the Kiwi pairing proved to be too strong for the

.The final British medal was gold in the team sprint, as they retained the title won in 2009 with a new

line-up of Darren Kenny, Tel Byrne and Jody Cundy.Having set a new world record in qualification, the

By Tom Degun in BarcelonaMarch 11 - Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo leads the way in showing how an athlete can use social networking to their own advantage according to Christian Hernandez, the Head of International Business Development at Facebook.

session entitled: "Digitally-savvy champions: when athletes become media of their own" saw him and former New

Zealand rugby icon Jonah Lomu discuss how social networking can be used to sport's advantage and how

special relationship with social networks," said the legendary All Black star, who won 63 caps for New

Zealand and scored 37 tries in a distinguished career."

By Tom Degun in BarcelonaMarch 11 - All Blacks legend Jonah Lomu (pictured) believes that rugby sevens could replace the 15-a-side format of the game as the pinnacle of the sport after it was added to the programme for 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

recognisable rugby stars of all time, and is a veteran of both forms of the game having won 63 caps for New

Zealand in a career that started when he burst onto the international scene during the 1994 Hong Kong

the event.He said: "I get asked a lot if I'm disappointed that I'll never be able to get to play for New

Zealand for an Olympic gold medal."

football team could begin its preparations for next year's Olympics in London with a match against New

Zealand at Wembley Stadium in a special fundraising event for the victims of the Christchurch earthquake

FIFA have approved the concept of a 'Football for Hope' match," Chung told the Sunday News in New Zealand

If New Zealand played at Wembley, being conservative, even if you only sold 40,000 tickets [roughly half

March 3 - Canada was today officially chosen as the host country for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, a formality after Zimbabwe withdrew its bid.

women's under-17 World Cup in 2017.Also awarded were the men's under-20 World Cup in 2013 to Turkey and New

Zealand in 2015; and the men's under-17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates in 2013 and Chile in 2015

March 1 - Zimbabwe has withdrawn its bid to host the women's World Cup in 2015 leaving Canada as the only candidate, FIFA announced today.

They face Chile for the under-17 finals, and against New Zealand for the under-20s.

February 23 - New Zealand's Olympic 1500 metres medallist Nick Willis is organsing fundraising track

February 21).Nick Willis was scheduled to run at the QEII stadium meeting and be presented with his new

upgraded to second following the disqualification of the gold medallist, Rashid Ramzi of Bahrain.The new

meeting is being organised with the support Athletics New Zealand and the New Zealand Olympic Committee.Willis

By Tom DegunFebruary 22 - The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has sent its thoughts and condolences to the people of Christchurch after a major 6.3 magnitude earthquake devastated the city and left at least 65 people dead.

Championships but following the jubilation of hosting the event, the earthquake today has been described by New

Zealand's Prime Minister John Key as "New Zealand's darkest day."

in the rubble while rescuers are continuing a desperate search for survivors amid the ruins of the New

Zealand city.Despite the chaos to the city of 350,000, insideworldparasport understands that the Local

Organising Committee for the IPC Athletics World Championships and the Paralympics New Zealand staff

You may have seen the story this week about the New Zealand broadcaster which has made headlines around

listen to that man’s polluted views again and I have encouraged listeners and advertisers in New

Zealand to boycott the station until he is rightly removed.

By Tom DegunFebruary 15 - British Paralympic stars Shelly Woods, Stef Reid and Richard Whitehead, who all claimed medals at the Christchurch 2011 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athletics World Championships last month, are set to receive support from BP as they prepare for the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

my fellow athletes' carbon footprint is brilliant," said the 24-year-old.Reid, the 25-year-old from New

Zealand, competed in the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing where she won a bronze medal in the 200 metres.She

talkback radio show about Paralympic athletes and the prestigious Halberg Awards, which are recognised as New

Halberg Awards judge and New Zealand sporting icon Ron Cheatley echoed Sir Philip in stating that he

Paralympics New Zealand chairman Mark Copeland has even stated his organisation will extend an offer

to fly Mr Laws to a Paralympic event anywhere in New Zealand so he could witness Paralympic sport first

[email protected] storiesFebruary 2011: IPC President calls for boycott of New

Zealand radio station after comments