FOOTBALL: Former Fulham midfielder Simon Elliott is the first of the New Zealand Olympic Games soccer team’s three over-age players to join them in camp ahead of a match against Indonesian club side PSMS Medan in Jakarta on Sunday night. Elliott, who has 54 caps for the All Whites, joined the squad today to the delight of coach Stu Jacobs. "We’ve been waiting for this day for a long time," Jacobs said. "Since day one it’s been about getting the three best players to... more>

OLYMPICS: New Zealand’s Olympics-bound athletes will be equipped with ground-breaking proprietary research on how to combat the effects of Beijing’s notorious pollution, the final stage of an elaborate plan to safeguard their health. Three years of scientific assessment by Sparc has been augmented by an Auckland University of Technology study delivered to competing sports on Wednesday under wraps. The AUT study focused on the measures athletes can take to improve their... more>

NETBALL: Silver Ferns sharpshooter Irene van Dyk harbours an unlikely ambition ahead of the trans-Tasman netball league preliminary final against the Adelaide Thunderbirds in Hamilton tomorrow. The ever smiling, invariably good natured shooter has her heart set on being nothing less than an outright menace. The Magic have taken the long road to the grand final. After losing 56-57 to the NSW Swifts in the major semifinal last Sunday, they now have to down minor semifinal winners the... more>

BASKETBALL: The intimidation factor could play a huge role in the outcome of New Zealand’s crucial Olympic basketball qualifying tournament quarterfinal against Greece tomorrow morning (7am start NZT). The Tall Blacks have their backs to the wall, requiring nothing short of victory in what promises to be a hostile environment against the tournament hosts in Athens. Everything appears in Greece’s favour. They have a world ranking of No 6, seven places ahead of the Tall Blacks,... more>

SURF LIFESAVING: They’re seasoned surf lifesaving veterans but sisters Julia and Georgina Toomey are heading into uncharted waters over the next week. The Auckland-based swimming specialists are in Germany for the world lifesaving championships which start on Monday, as part of a 12-strong New Zealand team. It is the first time the siblings have been picked in the same national side and they’re hoping to cap it with New Zealand’s first world championship in the sport... more>

GOLF: New Zealand golfers Michael Campbell and David Smail battened down the hatches in nasty conditions to be sheltered midfield after the first round of the British Open at Royal Birkdale today. Campbell carded a five-over 75 to be in a group of 22 golfers tied for 52nd. Smail was a shot back tied for 74th in the 156-strong field and admitted howling wind and intermittent rain made conditions easily the worst he had experienced in five British Open appearances. It eclipsed the strong... more>

BASKETBALL: The mountain New Zealand must scale to reach Beijing became obvious as they tried to leave the venue of the men’s basketball Olympic qualifying tournament in Athens today. After losing their final pool match 71-89 to Germany, the Tall Blacks found themselves stuck for nearly half an hour in the car park. An enormous crowd was arriving to watch hosts Greece, the team New Zealand must somehow topple in the quarterfinals on Saturday morning (NZ time) to have any chance of... more>

MARATHON: Endurance athlete Lisa Tamati has become the first New Zealand woman to complete the Death Valley ultra-marathon in the Nevada desert. The 39-year-old New Plymouth jeweller crossed the finish line in the gruelling 217km event last night (NZ time), clocking 38 hours, 24 minutes and 43 seconds. Tamati was the 10th woman home out of 22 and 24th runner overall in a 90-strong field. Her average speed was 5.65km/h. Tamati told the Taranaki Daily News she was exhausted after... more>

BASKETBALL: New Zealand crashed to a 71-89 loss to Germany in their final pool match at the men’s basketball Olympic qualifying tournament in Greece this morning (NZ time). Despite 29 points from forward Kirk Penney, the Tall Blacks were only in contention through the early stages against taller, more experienced opponents in Athens. Both sides had already qualified for the quarterfinals after easy respective wins over Cape Verde. New Zealand face a daunting quarterfinal against... more>

FOOTBALL: Ali Riley’s first international goal for New Zealand broke an eleven-year goal drought against China but they still lost 1-3 in a training match in Qinhuangdao overnight. The the match against the Olympic hosts was played privately over three 30 minute periods and was a useful taste of what conditions will be like for their first two Olympic matches at the same venue in three weeks. US-based Stanford University winger Riley met fullback Marlies Oostdam’s cross at the... more>