John Walker
b. 1952
HPI 63.9625 languages
New Zealand middle-distance runner and politician
This page contains a list of the greatest New Zealanders Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 13,875 Athletes, 184 of which were born in New Zealand. This makes New Zealand the birth place of the 20th most number of Athletes behind Kenya and Romania.
Top 10 New Zealander Athletes
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 #2 
Harry Kerr
1879 - 1951
HPI 59.1018 languagesNew Zealand athlete (1879-1951)
#3 
Peter Snell
1938 - 2019
HPI 58.3335 languagesNew Zealand athlete
#4 
Warren Cole
1940 - 2019
HPI 56.5017 languagesNew Zealand rower (1940–2019)
#5 
Yvette Williams
1929 - 2019
HPI 56.1428 languagesNew Zealand athlete
#6 
Joe Earl
b. 1952
HPI 55.4018 languagesNew Zealand rower
#7 
Les Mills
1934 - 2026
HPI 53.4815 languagesLes Mills is most famous for his Olympic career as a New Zealand track and field athlete competing in shot put and discus. A surprising fact is that he later served as a politician. His legacy endures through inspiring Kiwi athletes and advancing public service in New Zealand.
#8 
Dudley Storey
1939 - 2017
HPI 53.4419 languagesNew Zealand rower
#9 
Hugh Anderson
b. 1936
HPI 53.4415 languagesNew Zealand motorcycle racer
#10 
Eric Verdonk
1959 - 2020
HPI 53.3618 languagesNew Zealand rower (1959-2020)
People by Birth Decade
Browse notable New Zealanders Athletes grouped by birth decade. Each decade shows the top 10 by HPI; expand to see everyone.
2000s(8)
1990s(87)
1980s(30)
1970s(13)
1960s(12)
1920s(1)
1910s(1)
1870s(1)
Overlapping Lives
Which Athletes were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 25 most globally memorable Athletes since 1700.
SPORTS
