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Shot put champion Tom Walsh takes out Supreme Award, wins Sportsman of the Year at 56th Halberg Awards

February 21, 2019
Shot Put champion and overall Halberg Supreme winner Tom Walsh.
56th ISPS Handa Halberg Awards. Halberg Disability Sport Foundation. Spark Arena, Auckland, New Zealand. Thursday 21 February 2019 © Copyright photo: Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz

Relive 1 NEWS NOW's live coverage of tonight's 56th Halberg Awards, honouring and celebrating New Zealand's sporting achievements at Spark Arena in Auckland.

Halberg Awards winners:

Supreme winner: Tom Walsh – Shot put

Fans moment of the Year: Anna Leat's successful penalty shootout against Japan, which led New Zealand to the FIFA U17 Football World Cup women's semi-final

Coach of the Year: Gordon Walker – Canoe racing

Sportswoman of the Year: Lisa Carrington – Canoe racing

Hall of Fame Inductee: Beatrice Faumuina - Discus

Sportsman of the Year: Tom Walsh – Shot put

Team of the Year: Black Ferns Sevens

Para-Athlete/Team of the Year: Adam Hall – Para alpine skiing

Leadership award: Dr Farah Palmer - Rugby

Lifetime Achievement: Barry Hunt - Athletics

Emerging Talent: Maddison-Lee Wesche – Shot put

10:44pm: That will be all from us for tonight, thank you for joining us on New Zealand sport's biggest night.

The Sportsman of the Year Award winner is shot put champion Tom Walsh at the Halberg Awards. Spark Arena, Auckland, New Zealand.Thursday, February 21, 2019. Copyright photo: David Rowland / www.photosport.nz

10:38pm: Finally, it's time for the Supreme Award. Rob Waddell will hand out tonight's big prize.

Shot put champion Tom Walsh takes out the top prize. He cleared 22m going onto win the Indoor World Championships in March last year, he set a Commonwealth Games record of 22.45m in qualifying before going on to win gold. Walsh finished 2018 on a high with another 22m throw in August to win the Diamond League. 

10:33pm: And the winner is... Anna Leat's successful penalty shootout against Japan, which led New Zealand to the FIFA U17 Football World Cup semi-final.

10:27pm: Sir Michael Jones [fAll Blacks great]   and Adine Wilson  [Former Silver Fern] are presenting the  New Zealand's Favourite Sporting Moment of the Year award voted by the public.

10:14pm: The Coach of the Year award goes to Gordon Walker  [canoe racing]. He led the New Zealand kayaking teams to seven canoe sprints medals at the world championships last year.

10:02pm: Lisa Carrington wins the Sportswoman of the Year award for a third year in a row. She won silver medals in the K1, K2 and K4 500m events at last year's world champs. While competing in last year's K1-200 event she won gold for a sixth consecutive time at the world champs.

The New Zealand Sportswoman Of The Year Award winner is Canoeing's Lisa Carrington at the 56th Halberg Awards in Auckland. Spark Arena, Auckland, New Zealand.Thursday, February 21, 2019. Copyright photo: David Rowland / www.photosport.nz

9:53pm: Beatrice Faumuina  has been inducted into the NZ Sports Hall of Fame - She was the first New Zealander to become a world champion in the athletic arena, winning first place in Athens in 1997 in the discus event. Faumuina also won Commonwealth Games gold in 2002.

The Sports Hall of Fame Induction is awarded to Beatrice Faumuina at the 56th Halberg Awards. Spark Arena, Auckland, New Zealand.Thursday, February 21, 2019. Copyright photo: David Rowland / www.photosport.nz

9:41pm: Shot put champion Tom Walsh wins the Sportsman of the Year award for a second year straight. He cleared 22m going onto win the Indoor World Championships in March last year, set a Commonwealth Games record 22.45m in qualifying before going on to win gold. Walsh finished 2018 on a high with another 22m throw in August to win the Diamond League. 

9:36pm: Up next is the Sportsman of the Year award

The nominees for the award are: Nico Porteous (freeskiing), Scott Dixon (motorsport), Scott McLaughlin (motorsport), Tom Walsh (athletics).

9:31pm: A great way to celebrate the Black Ferns Sevens win, with family members performing the Tika Tonu haka for the recipients of the Team of the Year award.

9:30pm: The winner of the Team of the Year award is the Black Ferns Sevens team  after winning the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games gold and taking out the Sevens World Cup title at San Francisco last year.

Black Ferns Sevens' Alena Saili, Stacey Waaka, Sarah Hirini and Kelly Brazier accept the Team of the Year award at the 56th Halberg Awards in Auckland. Spark Arena, Auckland, New Zealand.Thursday, February 21, 2019. Copyright photo: David Rowland / www.photosport.nz

9:20pm:  The winner of the Para Athlete/Team of the Year award is Adam Hall  (Para alpine skiing) who won gold at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Paralympics in the men's slalom standing event and bronze in the men's super combined standing event.

The Para Athlete/Team Of The Year Award winner is Para Alpine Skier Adam Hall at the 56th Halberg Awards. Spark Arena, Auckland, New Zealand.Thursday, February 21, 2019. Copyright photo: David Rowland / www.photosport.nz

9:17pm: The next award is the Para Athlete/Team of the Year

The nominees are: Adam Hall (Para alpine skiing), Corey Peters (Para alpine skiing), Scott Martlew (Para canoe racing), Sophie Pascoe (Para swimming).

9:03pm: The Sport NZ Leadership award winner is Dr Farah Palmer . She led the Black Ferns to three Rugby World Cup's. She was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame in 2014. In 2016 the NZ women's national competition was named after her for her services to rugby.  

The Sport New Zealand Leadership Award winner is Dr Farah Palmer at the 56th Halberg Awards in Auckland. Spark Arena, Auckland, New Zealand.Thursday, February 21, 2019. Copyright photo: David Rowland / www.photosport.nz

8:57pm: Barry Hunt has won the Life-time Achievement award for his commitments to athletics, he was a former track athlete. 

8:55pm: Presenting the  Life-time Achievement award  is Andy Hay [1982 Surpreme Halberg award winner] and Kylie Clegg [Former Black Sticks captain]

8:49pm: The winner is... Maddison-Lee Wesche (shot put). The 19-year-old Aucklander won gold at last year's under-20 World Champs, throwing a personal best of 17.09m.

The SKY Sport Emerging Talent Award winner Maddison-Lee Wesche at the 56th ISPS Handa Halberg Awards. Spark Arena, Auckland, New Zealand.Thursday, February 21, 2019. Copyright photo: David Rowland / www.photosport.nz

8:44pm: Presenting the Emerging Talent award tonight is Phil Tataurangi [1993 Supreme Halberg Award winner] and Honey Hireme [NZ rugby league women's player]  

8:24pm: The first award of the night presented is the Emerging Talent award.

The nominees are: Amelia Kerr (cricket), Anna Leat (football), Josh Armit (yachting), Lewis Clareburt (swimming), Maddison-Lee Wesche (athletics).

8:00pm:

The New Zealand sporting stars have arrived in Spark Arena. It will be about half an hour until the first award is presented tonight.
After a stellar 2018 across many sporting codes for New Zealand, our best and brightest athletes will tonight find out who will be crowned the best of the best.

PREVIEW:

Kelly Brazier scores the winning try.
New Zealand v Australia, Final.
Rugby Sevens. Robina Stadium. Commonwealth Games, Gold Coast, Australia. Sunday 15 April 2018. © Copyright photo: Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz

New Zealand's top athletes will gather at Spark Arena in Auckland tonight for the event after the finalists for this year's awards were revealed last month.

Among them are a few old names, with the likes of canoeist Lisa Carrington and driver Scott Dixon both looking to win their third sportswoman and sportsman of the year awards, respectively.

But there's also some fresh faces, recognised for their brilliant performances and upsets in 2018 - and they could cause more shake-ups tonight.

Joe Schmidt is in the running for coach of the year after guiding Ireland's national rugby team to a Six Nations title, a Grand Slam and Ireland's first ever home win over the All Blacks.

There's also Winter Olympics heroes Nico Porteous and Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, who are finalists in the sportswoman and sportsman of the year awards after their bronze medal performances in PyeongChang.

Team of the year also has some youthful athletes amongst the finalists, with the Young Football Ferns nominated for their third-place finish at last year's FIFA Under-17 World Cup.

But they're up against stiff competition, with both the All Blacks Sevens and Black Ferns Sevens also amongst the finalists after their World Cup and Commonwealth Games wins.

Interestingly, the 15-player code has little representation across the categories besides Schmidt. Tonight's awards mark the first time since 2007 that neither an All Blacks player, coach or the team as a whole has been named among the finalists.

Halberg Awards finalists: 

Sportswoman of the Year
Joelle King (squash), Jonelle Price (equestrian), Lisa Carrington (canoe racing), Zoi Sadowski-Synnott (snowboarding).

Sportsman of the Year
Nico Porteous (freeskiing), Scott Dixon (motorsport), Scott McLaughlin (motorsport), Tom Walsh (athletics).

Para Athlete/Team of the Year
Adam Hall (Para alpine skiing), Corey Peters (Para alpine skiing), Scott Martlew (Para canoe racing), Sophie Pascoe (Para swimming).

Team of the Year
All Blacks Sevens (rugby union), Black Ferns Sevens (rugby union), NZ Football Under 17 Women (football), NZ Women's Kayaking Team (canoe racing), Black Sticks Women (hockey).

Coach of the Year
Allan Bunting (rugby union), Clark Laidlaw (rugby union), Gordon Walker (canoe racing), Joe Schmidt (rugby union), Leon Birnie (football).

Emerging Talent
Amelia Kerr (cricket), Anna Leat (football), Josh Armit (yachting), Lewis Clareburt (swimming), Maddison-Lee Wesche (athletics).

New Zealand's Favourite Sporting Moment of the Year

1. Nico Porteous and Zoi Sadowski-Synnott medaling at the Olympic Winter Games within two hours of each other (Pyeongchang)
2. David Liti breaking a Commonwealth record and winning gold in the men's 105kg+ weightlifting division at the Commonwealth Games (Gold Coast)
3. Kelly Brazier scoring a long range solo try in extra time to secure gold for the Black Ferns Sevens against Australia at the Commonwealth Games (Gold Coast)
4. Black Sticks Women penalty shootout over Olympic champions England in semifinal at the Commonwealth Games (Gold Coast)
5. Amelia Kerr blasting a record breaking 232 not out against Ireland for the White Ferns, achieving the highest score in women's ODIs (Dublin)
6. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck receiving an impromptu haka after winning the Dally M Player of the Year (Sydney)
7. Auckland Rugby winning the Mitre 10 Cup Premiership final after a dramatic finish in extra time against Canterbury (Auckland)
8. Black Caps winning the first test against Pakistan by four runs (Abu Dhabi)
9. Anna Leat's successful penalty shootout against Japan, leading New Zealand into the semifinal of the FIFA Under-17 Women's World Cup (New Zealand vs Japan, Uruguay)

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