Minister congratulates sports media winners

Sport and Recreation Minister Jonathan Coleman paid tribute last night to the country’s top sports journalists, broadcasters and photographers at the annual Sir Terry McLean National Sports Journalism Awards.

“Sport is a key part of our identity as New Zealanders and many of our greatest heroes have been sports people. The sports media play an important role in bringing to life the great stories that sport produces,” says Dr Coleman.

The annual awards honour legendary sports journalist Sir Terry McLean. They recognise the top sports stories of the year across a range of categories and are hosted by the NZ Sports Journalists Association and Sport NZ.

The Minister attended the awards dinner in Auckland and presented top sports commentator John McBeth with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

“Mr McBeth has had an impressive career spanning 30 years. He was there when Danyon Loader won his first gold medal in the pool at the Atlanta Olympics, when Team New Zealand took the America's Cup in 1995, and over the last decade he has covered all the All Black tours and two World Cups,” says Dr Coleman.

“I’d like to congratulate all the finalists and winners– they are raising the bar for everyone else.”

Dr Coleman also congratulated the winners of this year’s Sir John Wells Scholarships which includes a $1,000 cash prize – Daniel Silverton (Times Newspapers) and Adam Cooper (Radio Sport).

The list of finalists/winners can be found at: www.sportsjournalists.org.nz.

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