GOLD!

NZ TEAM WINS 5 GOLD MEDALS AT TAEKWON-DO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS IN ARGENTINA

New Zealand has kicked off the first day of the ITF X Junior World and the XVI Senior World Taekwon-Do Championship at Mar del Plata (Buenos Aires) Argentina, winning 5 Gold, 3 Silver and 3 Bronze medals.

Aucklander Jeremy Hannah, was the first of the New Zealand team to take out gold winning the Junior Males 3rd Dan Patterns division.

SPARC sponsored Aucklanders Carolina Dillen and Mark Trotter were also in the medals with Dillen winning New Zealand's second gold medal in the Seniors Womens 1st Dan Patterns. Trotter secured a Silver medal in the Senior Mens 4th to 6th Dan Patterns division.

The team also struck gold with Chris Broughton from Auckland winning the Senior Mens Ist Dan Patterns division.

Aramai Tahau from Levin won the Junior Mens Individual Speciality competition while the last gold medal for the day was won by the Junior Womens Team in the Team Pattern division.

Wellingtonian Richie Lavin, another SPARC sponsored athlete won bronze in his Senior Males 3rd Dan Patterns division.

Mathew Davey from Auckland claimed silver in the Senior Mens 2nd Dan Patterns division and the last of the silver medals was won by Shane Black from Tauranga in the Junior Mens Speciality division.

Bronze medals were won by both Phillipa Henry from Whangarei in the Junior Womens 1st Degree Patterns division and Melissa Timperley for the Junior Womens Specialty.

The 4 day event has drawn over 800 competitors with large teams from the United States, England, New Zealand, Canada, Australia, Argentina, Germany and Poland.

New Zealand is hosting the ITF Taekwon-Do World Championships in Wellington from the 10^th to the 13^th March in 2011 and is expecting over 600 competitors from 60 Countries.

The 2011 Taekwon-Do New Zealand promotional team has set-up a stand at the Argentina Taekwon-Do World Championships to promote New Zealand in conjunction with Tourism New Zealand, New Zealand Trade & Enterprise and Wellington City Council Events.

Chairman Nick Lourantos says:

" I'm absolutely blown away by the support shown by Wellington City Council, Tourism New Zealand and NZ Trade & Enterprise. It's great what happens when the Government and sport work together to promote our great country and what it has to offer the world.

"We have been promoting New Zealand as a place to come and play as well as a place to do business with. We have been gathering registrations for the 2011 Championships with amazing interest for ongoing holidaying in New Zealand.

“So far most interest has come from the United States, The Netherlands and Canadian delegations. They want to know more and the stand has whetted their appetite to come and visit New Zealand.”

OF POLAR BEARS AND BACTERIA BINS, AND FAILED MISSIONS

We have already expressed some measure of joy at Key's announcement that " Hug a Polar Bear" programmes exhalted by the last government are for the chop. And Patrick Gower has a story in the Herald on Mission on Mission off, a health campaign administered by SPARC

Its has a website funded to the tune of $3.9 million.. They claim to have had 90,000 visitors - hell we have had 100,000 visitors to Roarprawn in less than seven months and it cost us nothing to set up.

What a bloody crock. We are glad that it is going but seriously someone should be looking at why it cost that much to build and administer.

We are hoping that we can get our rubbish tins back as well. If its good enough for the hamsters on the hill its good enough for us. We are waiting patiently for an email saying we can bif our desktop bacteria bin.

Commonsense reigns supreme.

Another excellent start to the day...