Leading sports administrator Kereyn Smith (pictured) has taken up her role as secretary general of the New

Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) and become the first woman to lead the organisation in its 100-year

environment, Kereyn will maximise the value NZOC adds to sport, athletes, commercial partners and all New

Zealanders," he said.Smith said: "New Zealand athletes are committed to achievement at the very highest

predecessor as NZOC secretary general and a former international hockey player who was part of the New

Zealand gold medal-winning team at the Montreal 1976 Games, will continue to sit on the Board in his

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected] storiesOctober 2010: New Zealand

By Tom Degun in Christchurch January 18 - British Paralympic great Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson (pictured) revealed she is extremely excited at the prospect of seeing 15-year-old wheelchair racer Jade Jones at her first major senior international competition at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athletics World Championships here.

But she faces a tough test in New Zealand competing against the world's best in the T54 category in the

presenter for the BBC and Jones' coach, believes her prodigy will hugely benefit from competing in New

Zealand.

writer of this story at [email protected] Related stories January 2011: New

Zealand for Athletics World Championships January 2011: Weir aims to "put down a marker"

By Tom Degun in Christchurch January 17 - Four nations aiming to compete at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athletics World Championships here face a major crisis ahead of the prestigious event, which begins on January 21, as they are still yet to leave home because of visa problems.

While the majority of the top Paralympic teams arrived in New Zealand to prepare for the competition

Paralympics New Zealand chief executive Fiona Pickering told insideworldparasport the teams, who

by Friday (January 21) which is the last day for entry, had either neglected to get visas for New

Zealand or Australia - where some of the teams transit - or both.

Immigration New Zealand had therefore declined the Ivory Coast team's application for lack of information

I can't believe I'm in New Zealand!

even I believed I'd go on to be selected for the IPC Athletics World Championships but now I'm here in New

Zealand it's really starting to hit home.I flew from Belfast to Heathrow on January 4 and ended up using

members of the Aviva GB & NI team competing at the IPC Athletics World Championships in Christchurch, New

Zealand, and the only member from Northern Ireland

has been awarded the Ireland free-to-air television broadcast rights for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New

Zealand.

three nations in the track and field medal count when competition commences in Christchurch.Success in New

Zealand will be the foundation for the next 18 months of preparation, planning and focus on the London

By Tom DegunJanuary 14 - James Nolan, Irish team manager for the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athletics World Championships, is confident the team can still pick up three medals even without their injured talisman, and the world's fastest Paralympian, Jason Smyth.

Ireland, but Nolan, himself an Olympian and former European Indoor silver medallist, believes the team in New

Zealand is still strong, with the likes of Michael McKillop, the Beijing 2008 Paralympic champion in

Nolan paid homage to Smyth, saying he and McKillop have taken Irish Paralympic sport to a new level."

T54 race at this month's International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athletics World Championships in New

Zealand will be the one to watch.

By Tom DegunJanuary 12 - Peter Eriksson (pictured), Britain's team leader and UK Athletics Paralympic head coach, says his main goal is to increase integration between Olympic and Paralympic athletes.

Britain's Paralympic athletics team arrived in Auckland, New Zealand last week for a 12-day preparation

physiotherapist Lily Devine, who has worked as part of the sport medicine team and travelled out to New

Zealand, said: "Over the past year the programme has really focused on building its professionalism

insideworldparasport.bizRelated storiesJanuary 2011: "No excuses" warns Eriksson as British team arrive in New

Zealand for Athletics World ChampionshipsJanuary 2011: Weir aims to "put down a marker" as British contingent

January 11 - Britain's heptathlete world champion Jessica Ennis (pictured), BMX star Jamie Bestwick and the British and Irish-dominated European Ryder Cup golf team are among the latest nominees for the 2011 Laureus World Sports Awards.

2010 European Championship heptathlon title to her World Championship gold medal of 2009, setting a new

surfers, Australia's Stephanie Gilmore and American Kelly Slater, Spanish windsurfer Victor Fernandez, New

Champions League winners Inter Milan, NBA winners Los Angeles Lakers, the Red Bull Formula One team and the New

Zealand All Blacks rugby team.The winners, as voted by the Laureus World Sports Academy - made up of

it refused to accept his entry for the T46 marathon at this month's Athletics World Championships in New

Zealand.

The IPC rule book specifies that any athlete can compete 'up a class' if they're eligible"However, in New

Zealand, the qualification criteria stated that each event could be contested by 'eligible classes'

As it stands, he is still in full training for both the T44 200m and the T46 marathon in New Zealand

It is probably more likely that a final ruling will be made after New Zealand so it may be that he won't

Championships, including South African "blade runner" Oscar Pistorius, will be the first to use the brand new

for sport and cultural activity in New Zealand, Minister for Economic Development Gerry Brownlee says

also for the legacy benefits to Christchurch and New Zealand as a whole," said Brownlee."

Canterbury, New Zealand Athletics, athletes competing in the annual International Track Meet in March

, and the New Zealand Academy of Sport.Meanwhile, Christchurch 2011 will be the first IPC Athletics World

Championships ever to be held outside Europe after Paralympics New Zealand secured the right to host

By Katy AndersonMany words are used in association with the old party classic The Birdie Dance but performance - certainly of a credible or "world class" nature - isn't one of them.While imitation may be one of the finest forms of flattery, in Katrina Hart's case, it's a definite coincidence because in reality, the "Sparrow Dance" is far more endearing than its aged counterpart.

Stadium in Delhi with victory in the T37 100m final - a phenomenal performance which she delivered in a new

As well as the friendship of new team-mates, Hart, who has cerebral palsy, had clearly captured the attention

I want to win gold out in New Zealand [at the IPC Athletics World Championships] and I won't settle for

By Tom DegunJanuary 10 – American wheelchair racing star Jessica Galli, a six-time Paralympic medal winner, has talked up the huge benefits of disability sport as she heads into what could be her final International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athletics World Championships in Christchurch later this month.

27-year-old (pictured), who will be looking to make it a hat-trick of 400 metres T53 world titles in New

Zealand, was paralysed in a car crash at just seven years old and spent four months in a rehabilitation

States and the Cook Islands in Pool-A of the third round of the HSBC Sevens World Series in Wellington, New

Zealand, next month.

title in Dubai and reaching the final in South Africa, England lead the series with 44 points from New

Zealand on 40, Samoa 36 and Fiji 32 with South Africa lying fifth on 24.Once again, the NZI Sevens kicks

off the first action of the new year at the city's famous Westpac Stadium, on February 4 and 5.New Zealand's

them to second in the standings and they top Pool-B with matches against Argentina, Scotland and Papua New

Zealand claim victory in South AfricaDecember 2010: England in sevens heaven after clinching Dubai title