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, 32 of which were born in New Zealand. This makes New Zealand the birth place of the 35th most number of Athletes behind Bulgaria, and South Africa.

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. Peter Snell (1938 - 2019)

With an HPI of 51.35, Peter Snell is the most famous New Zealander Athlete. His biography has been translated into 34 different languages on wikipedia.

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.

2. Hugh Anderson (b. 1936)

With an HPI of 47.56, Hugh Anderson is the 2nd 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.

3. Murray Halberg (1933 - 2022)

With an HPI of 46.03, Murray Halberg is the 3rd most famous New Zealander Athlete. His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Sir Murray Gordon Halberg (7 July 1933 – 30 November 2022) was a New Zealand middle-distance runner who won the gold medal in the 5000 metres event at the 1960 Olympics. He also won gold medals in the 3 miles events at the 1958 and 1962 Commonwealth Games. He worked for the welfare of children with disabilities since he founded the Halberg Trust in 1963.

4. Yvette Williams (1929 - 2019)

With an HPI of 45.64, Yvette Williams is the 4th 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.

5. Jack Lovelock (1910 - 1949)

With an HPI of 42.82, Jack Lovelock is the 5th most famous New Zealander Athlete. His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

John Edward Lovelock (5 January 1910 – 28 December 1949) was a New Zealand athlete who became the world 1500m and mile record holder and 1936 Olympic champion in the 1500 metres.

6. Ross Collinge (b. 1944)

With an HPI of 42.35, Ross Collinge is the 6th most famous New Zealander Athlete. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Ross Hounsell Collinge (born 21 November 1944) is a former New Zealand rower who won two Olympic medals. Collinge was born in 1944 in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. He trained as a pharmacist at Petone Technical College. In rowing, he attracted attention due to his strong performance at the 1967 New Zealand championships, where he rowed for the Hutt Valley team; Dick Joyce was one of his team members. For the 1968 Summer Olympics, New Zealand qualified an eight and had a pool of four rowers and a cox as a travelling reserve; Collinge was part of this reserve. Preparations were held in Christchurch at Kerr's Reach on the Avon River. The reserve rowers were unhappy with the "spare parts" tag and felt that they were good enough to perhaps win a medal if put forward as a coxed four. The manager, Rusty Robertson, commented about them that they were "the funniest looking crew you've ever seen". There were stern discussions with the New Zealand selectors. In a training run, the coxed four was leading the eight over the whole race. In the end, the reserve rowers got their way and New Zealand entered both the coxed four and the coxed eight. Collinge won the Olympic coxed four event along with Dick Joyce, Dudley Storey, Warren Cole and Simon Dickie (cox); this was New Zealand's first gold medal in rowing. At the time, Collinge had newly qualified as a pharmacist, and recently married. The crew's winning boat was sold to a rowing club to recoup costs, and ended in splinters after a road crash. At the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich Collinge teamed with Dick Tonks, Dudley Storey and Noel Mills to win the silver medal in the coxless four. He rowed with the coxed eight in the 1975 World Rowing Championships in Nottingham, Great Britain, and won a bronze medal. He is married to Valerie Collinge with whom he had two children. He has one grandson currently living in Wellington, who has announced he aspires to be a rower like his grandad to "Carry on the family tradition". Since the 1980s, they have been living in a house adjacent to the house of the Indian High Commissioner in Lower Hutt.

7. John Hunter (b. 1943)

With an HPI of 42.23, John Hunter is the 7th most famous New Zealander Athlete. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

John Andrew Hunter (born 8 November 1943) is a former New Zealand rower who won a gold Olympic medal in his career. Hunter was born in 1943 in Christchurch, New Zealand. At the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich he teamed with Dick Joyce, Wybo Veldman, Tony Hurt, Lindsay Wilson, Joe Earl, Trevor Coker and Gary Robertson and Simon Dickie (cox) to win the gold medal in the eights. Hunter had previously been a member of the eight which finished fourth at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. He was also the Rowing Manager for the New Zealand team at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Hunter was later an engineering consultant in Christchurch. He was employed by the New Zealand Ministry of Works and was involved in the expansion of Christchurch International Airport. As a rowing coach, he managed many teams including some of the teams at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

8. Tony Hurt (b. 1946)

With an HPI of 41.60, Tony Hurt is the 8th most famous New Zealander Athlete. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Anthony John Hurt (born 30 March 1946) is a former New Zealand rower who won two Olympic medals. At the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, he teamed with Dick Joyce, Wybo Veldman, John Hunter, Lindsay Wilson, Joe Earl, Trevor Coker and Gary Robertson and Simon Dickie (cox) to win the gold medal in the eights. 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, Joe Earl and Dave Rodger and Simon Dickie (cox). In both Olympic races, he was the stroke. Hurt later had a plumbing business in Auckland.

9. Trevor Coker (1949 - 1981)

With an HPI of 41.25, Trevor Coker is the 9th most famous New Zealander Athlete. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Trevor Ian Coker (1 October 1949 – 23 August 1981) was a New Zealand rower who won two Olympic medals. He was born in Whanganui, New Zealand. Coker won the European Championship in 1971. Known then as the "New Zealand Eight", Coker and his team received Halberg Awards in 1971 and 1972 as New Zealand Sportsman of the Year (the rules were altered in 1971 to allow a team to receive this recognition). Coker was born in Wanganui in 1949. He initially rowed for the Wanganui Rowing Club. At the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, he teamed with Dick Joyce, Wybo Veldman, John Hunter, Lindsay Wilson, Joe Earl, Tony Hurt and Gary Robertson and Simon Dickie (cox) to win the gold medal in the eights. At the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, he again crewed the eight, which this time won the Bronze medal. His crew mates this time were Alec McLean, Ivan Sutherland, Hurt, Peter Dignan, Wilson, Earl and Dave Rodger. Coker won the New Zealand national championships in the four in 1974, 1975 and 1976, and with the eight in 1976. He won a bronze medal at the World Championships in 1974, and rowed with the eight in the 1975 World Rowing Championships in Nottingham, Great Britain, winning a bronze medal. Coker died of a brain tumor in 1981. His teammates stayed close to his wife and son, assisting with financial support. Trevor and the 1972 Gold medal team were inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1990. In 1997, the 1972 team travelled back to the course at Munich to mark the 25th anniversary. Coker was the only member not present. New Zealand secondary school rowing teams compete today for the Coker Memorial Shield.

10. John Walker (b. 1952)

With an HPI of 40.52, John Walker is the 10th most famous New Zealander Athlete. His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

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. In more recent years, Walker has been active in local government, as an Auckland Councillor and representing the Manurewa-Papakura ward.

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 Hugh Anderson, Ross Collinge, and John Hunter. The most famous deceased New Zealander athletes include Peter Snell, Murray Halberg, and Yvette Williams. As of April 2024, 136 new New Zealander athletes have been added to Pantheon including Hugh Anderson, Ross Collinge, and John Hunter.