Zoi Sadowski-Synnott won a record-equalling fifth supreme award — and became the first female to do so — at the awards held at the Edgar Centre last night.
She joins the elite supreme award club alongside cyclist Greg Henderson, who won five consecutive top awards from 2001 to 2005, and rower Hamish Bond, who won the award in 2008, 2011-2013 and 2017.
Sadowski-Synnott previously won the award in 2018 — the first junior to win the major award — 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2025.
The 25-year-old snowboarder, who also won sportswoman of the year, won double silver at the Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina and had a standout 2025-26.
It was a dazzling night for the region’s snow sports, who collected eight awards.
Freeskier Luca Harrington won sportsman of the year after another standout season, capped off by winning bronze at the Winter Olympics.
‘‘It's been a pretty incredible season and year for myself with a lot of success ... it means the world to me to be acknowledged for that throughout Otago, especially among the other talent,’’ Harrington said in a video message.
Para alpine skier Adam Hall won para athlete of the year, making history at his record sixth Paralympics, winning silver in the men’s slalom standing.
‘‘This region, Dunedin, Outram and the Taieri, is my home and your decades of support from this region has also had a massive contribution on my career,’’ Hall said in a video message.
World champion freeskier Finley Melville Ives and Olympic freeskier Mischa Thomas collected junior sportsman and sportswoman titles.
‘‘I’m so honoured. It’s been such a crazy year, but I couldn’t have been able to do it without the support and help from the people around me,’’ Thomas said via video message.
The Otago men’s rugby team, which won the Ranfurly Shield and made the NPC final for the first time in 20 years, held off tough competition to win the team of the year award.
Tim Willmott (snow sports park and pipe) was named coach of the year, Chris Gaffaney (cricket) was official of the year and Lucas Bell (freeskier) won emerging talent.
South Otago stalwart Gordon Baird was honoured with the services to sport award for his unwavering dedication to basketball, bowls and athletics across the region for 60 years.
From starting in basketball in 1961, Baird never looked back, supporting the sport as a player, coach and administrator, and had the same impact in the athletics area.
He was a formidable triple jumper, later serving as president of the South Otago Athletics Club and coached countless athletes — and is still active in supporting them today — and was made a life member of South Otago in 1992.
He joined the Balclutha Bowling Club in 1972 and has been a prominent member since.
The innovation in sport award went to Axon Perform, a Dunedin-founded sports performance analytics company that has established itself as an innovator on the world stage.
Axon has been used by leading world rugby organisations including New Zealand, South Africa, England, the British and Irish Lions and Georgia, and worked alongside Japan rugby, the All Whites, Otago Cricket, the Dunedin City Royals academy, NRL teams and expanded into the United Kingdom.
The awards are judged by Sport Otago chief executive James Nation, Otago Academy of Sport manager Carmel Leslie, Otago Daily Times sports editor Hayden Meikle, TVNZ sports reporter Michelle Banks and University of Otago pro vice-chancellor health sciences Megan Gibbons
