Another accolade for Sir Murray Halberg

Sir Murray Halberg was awarded the Blake Medal tonight for his more than 50 years' service to athletics and children with disabilities.

Last month, Sir Murray, 75, the 1960 Olympic gold medal athlete, was made a member of the Order of New Zealand, the highest honour in the land.

Sir Murray is the fourth recipient of the Blake Medal, the top accolade presented at tonight's Sir Peter Blake Leadership Awards by Sir Peter's widow, Pippa, Lady Blake, and Governor-General Anand Satyanand at a ceremony in Parliament.

Awards selection panel chairman Sir Ron Carter said Sir Murray's leadership style was to encourage others to reach their full potential.

"Sir Murray never fails to compliment those who trained him, those who trained with him, and who added their energy to his in developing the Halberg Trust. It is precisely this attitude to building a team that has earned him the honour of the Blake Medal," Sir Ron said.

"Leadership is not about self glory, it is about inspiring the team to achieve more than they could as individuals. Through the inspiration of his team, Sir Murray is the epitome of a person who deserves the Blake Medal for outstanding leadership."

Another Olympic champion, cyclist Sarah Ulmer, was recognised at the Blake awards as one of six emerging leaders.

The other emerging leaders were writer, actor, director and television present Oscar Kightley, Keriana Brooking, chief executive of Turanganui Primary Health Organisation (Gisborne), Rebecca Caughey, managing director of Funktion Music (Auckland), Julie Helson, general manager of KidsCan Charitable Trust (Auckland), and Michael Sabin, director of Methcon Group (Whangarei).

The Sir Peter Blake Leadership Awards were established in 2005 to recognise and promote leadership as a worthy goal. The awards are open to all New Zealanders.

The selection panel for this year's awards included Eion Edgar, John Graham, Dr Lester Levy, Sir Wilson Whineray, Fran Wilde, Mick Brown and Sir John Anderson, himself a Blake Medalist in 2005.

The awards kick-start New Zealand Leadership Week, which aims to raise awareness of the importance of great leadership and showcase the work that is being done to develop leadership capability throughout the country.