New Zealand sports news:
Kiwi sports fans were treated to a vast array of entertainment and success in 2022 and although we couldn't include every single moment, here at Today FM we have collected some of the most memorable and monumental moments of this past year.
With COVID-19 hampering crowd attendance and even delaying some competitions over the past two years, 2022 saw a significant ease in restrictions and the much-anticipated return of sold-out stadiums across the country and around the world.
With this saw two Kiwi sports teams returning to their respective home stadiums in New Zealand. The recently rebranded One NZ Warriors played their first game back at Mt Smart Stadium after 1038 days away from their Auckland base.
Fans turned out in droves to watch an electric Warriors side roll the Wests Tigers 22-2 in front of a sold-out Mt Smart stadium.
Today FM spoke to Warriors CEO Cameron George and some loyal fans ahead of their to find out how they were feeling ahead of their homecoming game.
The Wellington Phoenix also returned to their home Sky Stadium for the first time since 2019 while their female counterparts hosted the first professional women's football game in New Zealand in their second season in the women's A-League.
To Beijing earlier in the year and two young Kiwis shone brightly on the biggest world stage.
Zoi Sadowski-Synnott became the first New Zealander to win a gold medal at a Winter Olympic Games breaking a 70-year drought with her victory in the women's slopestyle.
Aged just 20 during the competition, Sadowski-Synott backed that up with a silver medal in the women's big air competition.
Also just 20 years old at the time, Nico Porteous's gold medal in the Freeski halfpipe made the Beijing Winter Olympics New Zealand's most successful Winter Olympics ever.
Arguably New Zealand's most memorable sporting moment saw an electric, sold-out Eden Park played host to the Black Ferns sixth Women's Rugby World Cup, as they held off a resilient England Red Roses in a nail-biting finish.
A tournament that not only saw New Zealand retain their world champion status but also revealed the breadth of talent in women's rugby in New Zealand and across the globe.
International Sports news:
Just 12 days before the end of the year, football superstar Lionel Messi led Argentina to their third, and his first, FIFA World Cup, beating France in a penalty shootout in what some are calling the greatest World Cup Final ever.
The 35-year-old came close in 2014, losing in extra-time to Germany, but was finally able to hoist the historic trophy, captaining Argentina in what is likely to be his final world cup.
Instrumental in his team's success Messi finished the tournament with seven goals and three assists winning the Golden Ball (most valuable player) award for a record second time.
Continuing on with historical moments, Morocco became the first African country to qualify for a FIFA World Cup semi-final in Qatar, 2022.
Despite losing to France in their semi-final, Morocco defied expectations qualifying first in their pool, above Croatia, Belgium and Canada. Their road to the semi-final was no easy feat either, beating a young Spanish team on penalties and then edging past Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal 1-0 in the quarters.
Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal also made sporting history in 2022 becoming the first man to win 21 and then 22 Grand Slam singles titles, just one more than Serbian Novak Djokovic.
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