World champion high jumper Hamish Kerr has been named the supreme winner at the 2025 Halberg Awards, becoming the first male athlete to claim the top prize since 2018.
According to a report by Stuff, the awards ceremony, held in Auckland on Monday night, saw Kerr edge out snowboarder Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, the Black Ferns Sevens, and para sprinter Danielle Aitchison for the prestigious supreme award.
Kerr’s triumph follows a remarkable 2024 season in which he secured both world indoor and Olympic gold, cementing his place at the pinnacle of high jump. He had earlier been named Sportsman of the Year, overcoming strong competition from fellow world champion Geordie Beamish, who claimed a dramatic 3000m steeplechase world title in Tokyo after falling in the heats, as reported by Stuff.
Other finalists in the sportsman category included golfer Ryan Fox, footballer Chris Wood, and free-skier Luca Harrington.
Sadowski-Synnott was named Sportswoman of the Year for the second time, adding to her 2022 win. She claimed her third slopestyle world title last year and will soon compete for another Winter Olympic gold. Her category featured stiff competition from athletes including Sammie Maxwell, Alice Robinson, Niamh Fisher-Black, Jorja Miller, and Erin Routliffe, as reported by Stuff.
Aitchison secured her first Halberg Award in the para athlete/team category after winning double sprint gold, including a T36 200m world record, at the world para athletics championships in India.
The Black Ferns Sevens claimed their third Team of the Year title, following victories in 2018 and 2023. The side had already secured the 2024–25 SVNS title before defeating Australia 31–7 in the world championship final in Los Angeles, Stuff has reported.
Kerr’s coach, James Sandilands, was named Coach of the Year, while rising middle-distance talent Sam Ruthe won the Emerging Talent Award after becoming the youngest athlete to run a sub-four-minute mile in Auckland last March, Stuff has reported.
Shot put great Valerie Adams and former All Blacks captain Richie McCaw were inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame.
Administrator Katie Sadleir received the Sport New Zealand Leadership Award, while Kat Mueller was honoured with the Sir Murray Halberg Legacy Award for her work promoting inclusive sport and recreation opportunities across Aotearoa, as reported by Stuff.
The fan vote for New Zealand’s favourite sporting moment was awarded to former All Black Eroni Clarke and his son Caleb Clarke, after Eroni sang the national anthem at Eden Park ahead of Caleb’s comeback Test match, in which he scored the opening try.
Halberg Awards 2025 – Key Winners