The Most Famous

ATHLETES from New Zealand

This page contains a list of the greatest New Zealander Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 6,025 Athletes, 168 of which were born in New Zealand. This makes New Zealand the birth place of the 19th most number of Athletes behind Brazil, and Kenya.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary New Zealander Athletes of all time. This list of famous New Zealander Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of New Zealander Athletes.

1. John Walker (b. 1952)

With an HPI of 63.96, John Walker is the most famous New Zealander Athlete. His biography has been translated into 25 different languages on wikipedia.

Sir John George Walker, (born 12 January 1952) is a former middle-distance runner from New Zealand who won the gold medal in the men's 1500 m event at the 1976 Olympics. He was also the first person to run the mile in under 3:50. After his running career was over he was active in local government, as an Auckland Councillor and representing the Manurewa-Papakura ward.

2. Harry Kerr (1879 - 1951)

With an HPI of 59.10, Harry Kerr is the 2nd most famous New Zealander Athlete. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Henry Edward Kerr (28 January 1879 – 17 May 1951) was a New Zealand athlete who competed mainly in walking events. He competed for Australasia in the 1908 Summer Olympics held in London in the 3500 metre walk where he won the bronze medal. This was the first time a New Zealand-born person had won an Olympic medal.

3. Peter Snell (1938 - 2019)

With an HPI of 58.33, Peter Snell is the 3rd most famous New Zealander Athlete. His biography has been translated into 35 different languages.

Sir Peter George Snell (17 December 1938 – 12 December 2019) was a New Zealand middle-distance runner. He won three Olympic gold medals, and is the only man since 1920 to have won the 800 and 1500 metres at the same Olympics, in 1964. Snell had a relatively short career as a world-famous international sportsman, 1960–1965, yet achieved so much that he was voted New Zealand's "Sports Champion of the (20th) Century" and was one of 24 inaugural members of the International Association of Athletics Federations Hall of Fame named in 2012. A protégé of the New Zealand athletics coach Arthur Lydiard, Snell is known for the three Olympic and two Commonwealth Games gold medals he won, and the several world records he set.

4. Warren Cole (1940 - 2019)

With an HPI of 56.50, Warren Cole is the 4th most famous New Zealander Athlete. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Warren Joseph Cole (12 September 1940 – 17 July 2019) was a New Zealand rower who won an Olympic gold medal at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.

5. Yvette Williams (1929 - 2019)

With an HPI of 56.14, Yvette Williams is the 5th most famous New Zealander Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Dame Yvette Winifred Corlett (née Williams; 25 April 1929 – 13 April 2019) was a New Zealand track-and-field athlete who was the first woman from her country to win an Olympic gold medal and to hold the world record in the women's long jump. Williams was named "Athlete of the Century" on the 100th anniversary of Athletics New Zealand, in 1987.

6. Joe Earl (b. 1952)

With an HPI of 55.40, Joe Earl is the 6th most famous New Zealander Athlete. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Athol John "Joe" Earl (born 1 October 1952) is a former New Zealand rower who won two Olympic medals. Earl was born in 1952 in Christchurch and grew up on a farm in Hawarden in North Canterbury. He received his education at St. Andrew's College, where he started rowing under Fred Strachan. As Strachan was one of the national rowing selectors, Earl was picked ahead of more experienced oarsmen (according to his own statement) for the New Zealand eight that was to contest the 1971 European Rowing Championships. The eight won gold, to the surprise of everybody, at the regatta in Copenhagen. At the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich he teamed with Dick Joyce, Wybo Veldman, John Hunter, Lindsay Wilson, Tony Hurt, Trevor Coker and Gary Robertson and Simon Dickie (cox) to win the gold medal in the eights. He rowed with the men's eight in the 1975 World Rowing Championships in Nottingham, Great Britain, and won a bronze medal. At the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal he again crewed the eight which this time won the bronze medal. His crewmates this time were Alec McLean, Ivan Sutherland, Trevor Coker, Peter Dignan, Lindsay Wilson, Tony Hurt and Dave Rodger and Simon Dickie (cox). Earl's father died on his way to Munich. Whilst doctors had advised against travel due to a weak heart, his parents went nonetheless and his father died when they were in Italy. Earl still went ahead with the competition, and Strachan remarked later that "he still performed". The funeral had to wait until the rowers had returned to New Zealand. Joe Earl took over his father's farm until 1992. Afterwards, he was farming at Blackball on the West Coast. He then went into real estate and was at first branch manager in Rangiora. Since about 2009, he has sold real estate from Christchurch for PGG Wrightson.

7. Canada at the 2020 Summer Olympics#Field hockey (b. 0)

With an HPI of 54.34, Canada at the 2020 Summer Olympics#Field hockey is the 7th most famous New Zealander Athlete. Their biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Canada competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the nation's debut in 1900, Canadian athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games, with the exception of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow because of the country's support for United States-led boycott. Before the official postponement, the Canadian Olympic Committee and Canadian Paralympic Committee initially announced their intention not to send teams to both the Olympics and Paralympics. Following the announcement on the postponement, the COC and CPC issued a statement that says, in part, that Team Canada "will rise to the challenge to showcase our very best on the international stage," without explicitly saying that Canadian athletes will take part in the games. As part of the Canada Day celebrations held on Parliament Hill, Ottawa in 2019, former three time Olympic gold medalist in rowing, Marnie McBean was named as the Chef De Mission for the team. On July 13, 2021, the Canadian Olympic Committee officially announced the full team of 370 athletes (145 men and 225 women) competing in 30 sports, the largest team the country has sent to the games since Los Angeles 1984 and an increase of 56 from Rio 2016. 131 coaches will also accompany the team. A total of eight squads qualified in team sports, tied for the most ever with Montreal 1976. A total of 227 athletes competed at their first Olympics, and 134 of them returned from Rio 2016. On July 15, 2021, Vasek Pospisil withdrew from the tennis competitions, which reduced the team size to 370. On July 24, Annie Guglia received a reallocated spot in the women's street skateboarding event after an injury to a competitor from South Africa. This increased the team back to 371 athletes (145 men and 226 women). Due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Olympic Committee announced in July 2021, that travelling alternates would be allowed to compete in the following team sports: field hockey, football (soccer), handball, rugby sevens and water polo. The alternates for these team sports are listed below and consisted of a further nine athletes (two in field hockey, four in soccer, one per rugby sevens and water polo teams). However, these nine do not officially count towards the team size. Canada's Olympic team contested all sports on the Olympic program except handball, modern pentathlon and surfing. Alternates in soccer, rugby sevens and water polo competed, and are reflected in the table below. This increased the team size to 378. Two athletes in fencing and one in triathlon was added during the competition due to injury replacements. This meant the final team size was 381 athletes (148 men and 233 women). On July 19, 2021, basketball player Miranda Ayim and rugby sevens athlete Nathan Hirayama were named as co-flagbearers for the Parade of Nations during the opening ceremony. On August 8, 2021, gold medalist and Olympic record holder in the decathlon, Damian Warner was named as the flagbearer during the closing ceremony. The 24 medals won at the 2020 Summer Olympics mark the country's best-ever total medals result after the 1984 Games, surpassing the 22 medals won in 1996 and 2016, while also equalling the most number of gold medals won in 1992. At the 1984 Summer Olympics, which were boycotted by the Soviet Bloc, Canada won 44 medals.

8. Dudley Storey (1939 - 2017)

With an HPI of 53.44, Dudley Storey is the 8th most famous New Zealander Athlete. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Dudley Leonard Storey (27 November 1939 – 6 March 2017) was a New Zealand rower who won two Olympic medals.

9. Hugh Anderson (b. 1936)

With an HPI of 53.44, Hugh Anderson is the 9th most famous New Zealander Athlete. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Hugh Robertson Anderson (born 18 January 1936) is a four-time Grand Prix motorcycle road racing World Champion and a 19-time New Zealand national champion. He is also a two-time Isle of Man TT winner. In 2022, the F.I.M. inducted Anderson into the MotoGP Hall of Fame.

10. Eric Verdonk (1959 - 2020)

With an HPI of 53.36, Eric Verdonk is the 10th most famous New Zealander Athlete. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Eric Franciscus Maria Verdonk (28 May 1959 – 3 April 2020) was a New Zealand rower who won bronze medals in the single sculls events at the 1988 Summer Olympics, 1986 Commonwealth Games, and 1990 World Rowing Championships.

People

Pantheon has 168 people classified as New Zealander athletes born between 1879 and 2002. Of these 168, 157 (93.45%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living New Zealander athletes include John Walker, Joe Earl, and Canada at the 2020 Summer Olympics#Field hockey. The most famous deceased New Zealander athletes include Harry Kerr, Peter Snell, and Warren Cole. As of April 2024, 168 new New Zealander athletes have been added to Pantheon including John Walker, Harry Kerr, and Peter Snell.