Mei Heron

Wellington

Europe Correspondent at TVNZ

Europe Correspondent @1News @TVNZ in London || [email protected] || ex-wgtn _ex-Press Gallery, ex-RNZer_ ||

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Articles

Kiwi Niki Rendall bringing history of Paris alive with bike tours

Aug 7, 2024 | 1news.co.nz | Mei Heron

With all the buzz and hype surrounding the Olympics, it’s hard to imagine Paris as a quiet city, but with many roads blocked, and locals fleeing the disruption, parts of the French capital are eerily empty. That's perfect if you’re running a bike tour company like Aucklander Niki Rendall. An expat turned expert, being a tour guide in Paris is a far cry from when she was a paramedic.
French train lines hit by 'malicious acts' ahead of Olympics

Jul 25, 2024 | 1news.co.nz | Mei Heron

The Olympic Games have been hit by what French authorities are calling "coordinated malicious acts" across the country's high-speed train network. SNCF, the state-owned railway operator, said arsonists have attacked regional lines connecting Paris with the West, North, and East. "Fires were deliberately set to damage our installations," it said. It's created chaos and massive delays across the country on the day the Olympic ceremony is due to begin and there are disruptions expected all weekend.
Only in Paris: Olympics set for a one-of-its-kind Opening Ceremony

Jul 25, 2024 | 1news.co.nz | Mei Heron

The Paris 2024 Olympics officially starts early on Saturday morning NZ time. But the Opening Ceremony will, as Europe Correspondent Mei Heron reports from the French capital, look very different to what we've come to expect from these set-piece events. This one-of-a-kind ceremony won't have a traditional march into a stadium. Instead, about 10,500 athletes from more than 200 countries will parade on 94 boats on the Seine, the river that runs through the heart of Paris.
Canada analyst gets suspended jail sentence over NZ drone scandal

Jul 24, 2024 | 1news.co.nz | Mei Heron

The reigning Olympic women's football champions, Canada, have sent two staff home including the assistant coach after it was revealed they spied on the Football Ferns on two occasions using a drone. And it's been reported one of them has accepted an eight-month suspended prison sentence for his actions.
Two Canadian women's football staff sent home after drone incidents

Jul 24, 2024 | 1news.co.nz | Mei Heron

The reigning Olympic women's football champions, Canada, have sent two staff home including the assistant coach after it was revealed they spied on the Football Ferns on two occasions using a drone. Just a day before the two sides were due to face off in the opening match the Canadian Olympic Committee said following a review of the July 22 drone incident it had learnt of a second drone incident days earlier on July 19 at another New Zealand practice.
Olympics 2024: Police ever present as athletes stream into Paris

Jul 22, 2024 | 1news.co.nz | Mei Heron

On almost every street corner in Paris there is a police officer waiting. It is both unnerving and comforting as the city gets set to host the 2024 Olympic games. The opening ceremony creates an unprecedented security challenge. For the first time it won’t take place inside a stadium but instead dozens of boats will carry athletes and performers for around 6km on the Seine. The balance needs to be found between perfect security and creating a celebratory atmosphere.
Lulu Sun's coach on how the Kiwi tennis star prepared for Wimbledon

Jul 8, 2024 | 1news.co.nz | Mei Heron

New Zealand tennis sensation Lulu Sun spent weeks running in the snowy mountains in Slovakia to improve her fitness heading into Wimbledon, and her coach put her astronomical rise down to her hard work, including improving her mental game. On the eve of her historic quarter-final against 37th-ranked Croatian Donna Vekic, Sun's coach Vladimir Platenik said she was ready for what's expected to be a fast-paced match. "Lulu is on a wave, and we don't want to fall off the wave now," he told 1News.
Mei Heron: Pressure 'already on' after historic UK Labour win

Jul 6, 2024 | 1news.co.nz | Mei Heron

Don’t make a promise you cannot keep. These are wise words the new UK government have followed, by making very few promises at all, writes 1News Europe Correspondent Mei Heron. Labour played it safe on the campaign trail by releasing only a handful of policies, which lacked in real detail or substance. While its landslide victory has proven that game plan worked, it’s also left people wondering what change it will actually achieve now that it’s in power.
Mei Heron: How Britain's oldest political party fell to risk of extinction

Jul 1, 2024 | 1news.co.nz | Mei Heron

Rishi Sunak's fate has been sealed for a long time now, far before this disastrous election campaign even begun, writes Europe Correspondent Mei Heron. After Boris Johnson damaged the credibility of UK politics and Liz Truss followed up with her chaotic mismanagement of the economy, Sunak inherited a mess that seemed to get worse the more he tried to fix it. For the first time in 12 years, there's about to be a change of government in the United Kingdom, but there is hardly any buzz or fanfare.
Husband and wife duo aiming to break NZ equestrian medal drought

Jun 25, 2024 | 1news.co.nz | Mei Heron

A couple from Christchurch are hoping to break New Zealand's 12-year medal drought in the equestrian at this year's Olympic Games. Equestrian is one of the few Olympic sports in which men and women compete against one another, and has been one of New Zealand's most successful Olympic sports since Sir Mark Todd and the mighty Charisma claimed the first of their individual gold medals in 1984.