Mayor cheers on participants in annual sporting event.
Tauranga mayor and former Olympian Mahé Drysdale welcomed almost 15,000 competitors to Tauranga with open arms: the same arms that rowed him to five world championship titles.
He encouraged the young athletes at the 2026 Zespri AIMS Games to get involved in every sport they could.
The 22nd edition of the intermediate and middle schools event was the biggest yet, with 14,506 athletes aged 11 to 13 from 467 schools competing across 27 sporting codes.
Drysdale, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, said he loved seeing so many children giving sport a go and enjoying themselves.
“That’s what it’s really all about”.
Drysdale didn’t participate the sport that would eventually see him celebrated as the fastest rower in the world until high school, but said during his time at Tauranga Intermediate he participated in every sport he could.
He called himself an ‘all-rounder’, “Even though I wasn’t winning, I had fun”.
On the sidelines of the cross-country at Tauranga’s Waipuna Park, Drysdale was keen to share advice for young sports enthusiasts: just enjoy yourself.
“Be a good teammate and always support others.”
In total, 768 athletes took part in the AIMS 2026 cross country, across five events including an adapted sports athletes race. Cross country is a one-day competition which was held on September 5.
The winner of the year 7 group, Scarlett Nelson (Te Kamo Intermediate), obliterated last year’s record by almost 15 seconds.
Cruz Champness (Aquinas College), came first of the year 7 boys, who ran so hard he fell to the ground.
Lucie Thomson (Paraparaumu Beach School) led the group of year 8 girls in first with a killer time of 10:56:76.
Johnson Li (Newlands Intermediate) was victorious with a time of 10:00:67 in the year 8 boys division.
The Zespri AIMS Games 2026 was held from 5 to 11 September in Tauranga Moana, New Zealand.
