News

Audi quattro Winter Games NZ 2013 has been crowned New Zealand’s leading event, taking out the prestigious award for Event Excellence at the annual Sport NZ Awards night this week.

The 2013 Games acted as a qualifier to the Sochi Olympics and offered world-ranking points. For the first time, the programme featured four FIS World Cup events and two IPC World Cup events in a variety of snowboard and ski racing events that attracted Olympic standard fields.

Remarkably, 17 competitors at Winter Games NZ went on to win medals at the Sochi Winter Olympics including five golds.

In addition to the action on the slopes, the Games worked closely with Snow Sports New Zealand, Tourism New Zealand, Destination Queenstown and Lake Wanaka Tourism to ensure the public, competitors and media were welcomed to bustling downtown hubs featuring live entertainment, medal ceremonies, live broadcasts and an Adventure Film Festival.

The Audi quattro Winter Games NZ 2013 delivered an economic benefit to New Zealand of $7.8 million.

Winter Games NZ CEO, Arthur Klap said it was an honour to receive the award and that it would have a significant impact on planning for future events.

“My whole team is excited to be recognised by Sport NZ as the leading event in New Zealand. It gives us the perfect platform to seek the necessary financial support for 2015 and 2017. Now we focus on delivering an even better event next year,” he said.

The next Winter Games NZ takes place in August 2015.