26 Mar 2021

Extra Time for 26 March 2021

1:25 pm on 26 March 2021

In Extra Time this week - High Performance Sport New Zealand have made a major shift, with athlete welfare, not medals, the main focus of its new strategy.

Jackie Kiddle (Star Boating Club) and Zoe McBride (Nelson RC) NZ Womens Lightweight Double Scull

Finals races at the World Championships, raced on the Regattastrecke, Linz Ottensheim, Austria. Saturday 31 August 2019  © Copyright photo Steve McArthur / www.photosport.nz

Photo: © Steve McArthur / @RowingCelebration

The move comes after allegations of abuse forced several organisations to undergo both internal and external reviews around athlete well being and high performance.

Join RNZ's Joe Porter as he speaks to High Performance Sport NZ's chief executive Michael Scott, the Athletes Federation's Roger Mortimer and Waikato club and New Zealand youth rowing coach Hannah Starnes to discuss the strategy.

Will it work? How will athlete welfare be monitored? Will it affect performance?

We also hear about the pressures athletes face from a high profile sportswoman who retired from top flight sport last week and the government is being urged to make Covid-19 vaccination compulsory for all NZ athletes going to this year's Tokyo Olympics.