Dunedin city councillors have backed a plan to underwrite the New Zealand Masters Games for any future loss, in return for a deal securing the event's future in the city for two decades.
The recession has hit the New Zealand Masters Games and it has a funding crisis.
Vicki Kestila has been appointed Dunedin manager for the New Zealand Masters Games.
The New Zealand Masters Games open in Dunedin with a ceremony at Forsyth Barr Stadium and the start of competition. The games will run to February 12.
Aaron Joy, the face of the New Zealand Masters Games in Dunedin for the past nine years, is calling it quits and returning to his home town of Christchurch.
The oldest athletes were only a few years shy of their 100th birthdays, but fierce competition was still evident at the 19th annual Central Super Masters Games in Alexandra yesterday.
There will be a female ambassador at the New Zealand Masters Games for the first time next year.
A Dunedin city councillor sitting on the board of the New Zealand Masters Games insists he has followed correct procedures, after queries over a possible conflict of interest led to a review by the Office of the Auditor-general.
Otago could soon play host to a second international celebration of winter sports, with plans being drawn up for a Winter Masters Games, at venues across Dunedin and Central Otago.
After placing fourth in the masters section of the Cape Epic in South Africa, Alexandra residents Geof Blance and Malcolm McLeod are looking forward to their next races this Saturday.
Chairman John Bezett holds no fears for the future of the Masters Games despite the event losing its major sponsor and suffering a 15% drop in numbers this year.
The upper Otago Harbour was a fleet of sails yesterday, as sailors competed in both the national windsurfing slalom championships and the Masters Games yachting.
teve Prescott was just centimetres away from a world record on the final night of swimming at Moana Pool.
David Forss and Gordon Keys are two retired research scientists who have used tennis as a recreational break from their academic work.
They have returned. Naomi Crowder (England) and Shirley McFarland (Australia) have given the thumbs-up to the New Zealand Masters Games.
John Grey (Canterbury) recovered from the speed wobbles to win a dramatic indoor bowls singles final in Dunedin yesterday.
Eighty-year-old Sidney Salek (Mount Maunganui) displayed the enthusiasm and aggression of a teenager when he punched the air with his fist after breaking a New Zealand record at Moana Pool this week.
Australian Brian Hood will not easily forget his first New Zealand Masters Games in Dunedin.
Allan Funnell struck at the decisive moment in the last lap to win the 10km road race.
Surfing is a panacea for Dunedin dentist Tony Ryder.
