Editorial: Picking the best of the decade

OPINION: On Thursday New Zealand's supreme sportsperson of the decade will be announced at the annual Halberg Awards night in Auckland.

Whoever wins will take their place on the wall of fame alongside the All Blacks (originals) 1900-09; Anthony Wilding (tennis) 1910-19; George Nepia (rugby) 1920-29; Jack Lovelock (athletics) 1930-39; Bert Sutcliffe (cricket) 1940-49; Yvette Williams (athletics) 1950-59; Peter Snell (athletics) 1960-69; John Walker (athletics) 1970-79; Richard Hadlee (cricket) 1980-89; Danyon Loader (swimming) 1990-99.

The champion of 2000-09 has been decided by a panel of six and the criteria dictated the winner must have been the New Zealand sportsperson of the year at some stage.

On that score, coupled with longevity of performance, the winner is likely to be female. The Olympic gold medal efforts of the rowing twins Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell, shot putter Valerie Vili and cyclist Sarah Ulmer push them to the head of the list.

For sheer endurance of performance it would be hard to best the Evers-Swindells. Ironically the double scullers won the 2001 supreme award after two second placings at the world rowing championships in Lucerne. It was just the beginning for them and world championship gold followed in 2002, 03 and 05. People remember most their Olympic victories at Athens (04) and Beijing (08). The gut-busting, last gasp win in Beijing crowned an extraordinary career and allowed them to retire at their peak.

Vili, on the other hand is still competing and is in line to win her third successive sportsperson of the year. Her deeds have been in the latter part of the decade when she burst into prominence in 2006 with Commonwealth Games and world championship titles. Two more world golds followed in 07 and 09 and her emphatic victory at Beijing.

Ulmer won silver in the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Canada and by the middle of the next decade was the face of cycling. The energy she expended in setting a new individual pursuit world mark in Athens was unforgettable and one of the endearing highlights of the decade.

So where does that leave the men? Rower Mahe Drysdale, with four world titles and an Olympic bronze, will have been considered but the Evers-Swindells' record is better.

Perhaps the single most notable achievement of the decade was Michael Campbell's 2005 US Open win at Pinehurst. He followed with victory in the World Matchplay championships but has since suffered an inexplicable form slump. You would think that would turn most people off yet he topped an internet poll on Fairfax's Stuff site this week which attracted 12,910 votes.

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