Angela Walker

New Zealand

Columnist at Newsroom New Zealand

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Articles

Sporting talent that runs in the DNA

2 weeks ago | newsroom.co.nz | Angela Walker

It runs in the family. Running that is. In Sam Ruthe’s whānau, running and winning go back generations. Long before Ruthe became the youngest person in the world to break four minutes in the mile, at the age of 15, back in March, his grandmother, grandfather, mother and father all had athletics successes of their own. Grandmother Rosemary Wright, née Stirling, even won a 1970 Commonwealth Games gold medal in jaw-dropping style (more on that soon).
Dame Noels: ‘A huge cost on my career and life

1 month ago | wispainsighthub.org | Emma Evans |Canadian Women |Angela Walker |Ali Pottinger

Dame Noeline Taurua (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Whātua) is a legend of New Zealand netball. She played 34 test matches for the Silver Ferns before a serious knee injury ended her playing career. The affable and successful Ferns coach is a key voice in supporting the revised NetballSmart warm-up. The NetballSmart team have conducted research, gathered evidence, listened to community feedback, and enhanced the pre-game warm-up. I fell into coaching.
The rise of women’s football in New Zealand

2 months ago | wispainsighthub.org | Emma Evans |Canadian Women |Angela Walker |Ali Pottinger

In just two years, almost 5000 women and girls have started playing the beautiful game. The Post reporter Hanna McCallum, also a player for Seatoun AFC’s women’s first team, explores the lasting changes football is having on girls, women and their communities. When Scarlett Maddock was asked if she wanted to start a women’s team, there hadn’t been one at Eastbourne Football Club for at least 10 years.
Alice Robinson in No 1 land: Kiwi slalom skier’s big week

2 months ago | nzherald.co.nz | Angela Walker

Alice Robinson leads the 2025 giant slalom standings ahead of the final showdown at Sun Valley, Idaho this week. Photo / Getty ImagesAngela Walker for LockerRoomAlice Robinson is dominating the giant slalom circuit in Europe, where she’s now recognised on the streets. This week, the Queenstown skier will stake her claim as world No.1, Angela Walker writes. Alice Robinson is slightly disoriented. It can’t be blamed on altitude, or the weight of the World Cup medals she’s hauled in this season.
Alice in world No 1 land: Kiwi slalom skier's big week

2 months ago | newsroom.co.nz | Angela Walker

Alice Robinson is slightly disoriented. It can’t be blamed on altitude, or the weight of the World Cup medals she’s hauled in this season. When LockerRoom caught up with the Kiwi giant slalom star by video call last week, she had to think for a moment where in the world she was. Sitting in front of a rustic timber wall wearing a cosy woollen jumper, she glanced around in search of clues, before it came to her. “La Thuile in Aosta Valley, Italy,” she said with a grin.
Bloody-minded coach out to do good in the world

Feb 20, 2025 | newsroom.co.nz | Angela Walker

Tell Angie Dougal something can’t be done – and it’s likely she’ll prove you wrong. When she decided to try to create a world champion trampolinist, no one believed it could happen here. After all, most world champions hail from China or Russia. “But I decided we could be the best in the world,” Dougal says. “I don’t know why, because everybody told me that was an absolutely ludicrous thing to say from New Zealand.
Twisted Sisters hit the trails and sea

Feb 9, 2025 | newsroom.co.nz | Angela Walker

As the sun pierces the horizon every Saturday morning, a large huddle of middle-aged women gather at Takapuna Beach. After a safety briefing, they head towards the water, clad in wetsuits, swimwear, caps and goggles. Early walkers eye the group, some pausing to ask what’s going on. “We’re the Twisted Sisters Club,” Kylie Frost tells them.
Women in Trail Running - Aotearoa 2015-24

Oct 28, 2024 | wispainsighthub.org | Angela Walker |Emma Evans |Ali Pottinger |Cheycoda Cocks

This report delves into the participation of women in trail running events across New Zealand over the past decade. Drawing on data from over 60,000 race results across 22 events, the analysis highlights key trends, challenges, and progress in gender representation. The findings explore the differences in participation rates across various distances and terrains, shedding light on where women are best represented and identifying areas for improvement.
Where is she now? Valerie Young

Jul 7, 2024 | newsroom.co.nz | Angela Walker

Before there was Dame Val, another shot-putting Val wowed the athletics world. Sandwiched between the Dame Yvette Williams and Dame Valerie Adams eras, Valerie Young (née Sloper) won her fair share of medals, too. The winner of an unprecedented 37 New Zealand titles, Young won five Commonwealth Games gold medals and narrowly missed out on a medal at three Olympic Games. She was also the first woman to win the Lonsdale Cup – for the best performance in a Games sport.
'You have your own battlefield, your father has his'

May 26, 2024 | newsroom.co.nz | Angela Walker

The Olympics have a way of bringing into focus the world as it is right now. Each Games gifts us a snapshot of world history in the making. At Tokyo 2020 we witnessed mask-wearing athletes flanked by empty stands. In the 90s we grappled with new country names like Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The 1976 Olympics saw New Zealand at the centre of controversy following an All Blacks tour of apartheid South Africa.