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Katelyn Vahaakolo #95, Manaia Nuku #1 and Alena Saili #12 of New Zealand celebrate after defeating Australia in the gold medal match in the HSBC SVNS Series New York tournament at Sports Illustrated Stadium on March 15, 2026 in Harrison, New Jersey. (Photo by Caean Couto/Getty Images)

D'Arcy Waldegrave: Wāhine bring a change of perception to sport

Author: D'Arcy Waldegrave ,
Publish Date: Sat, 21 Mar 2026, 9:17am

Let’s talk about joy.

Releasing the demons of expectation, the pressures of desire, the need to justify sporting existence through results alone.

To be fair, this all sounds a bit new age, a bit woowoo, counter to the traditional muted celebration of living the grind, suffering to succeed.

Increasingly, sportspeople are eschewing the concept of the strong silent athlete assassin, an unsmiling, full focussed, dead shark eyed harbinger of your defeat.

I believe this comes from the acceleration of women’s sport.

Over the last 25 odd years, I’ve watched the rise and rise of their game. The increase in media coverage, the sponsorship, the exponential growth in income, the positive narrative change, the acceptance that women’s sport is not men’s sport in a different uniform.

Wāhine bring a change in perception. Their game is neither better nor worse. Comparative size, strength, speed are no longer the determiners of quality. The paradigm adjustment is bringing a new and uplifting look at sport. It’s bringing a whole new set of achievement parameters.

Results are still incredibly important; they are after all the reason to play at the highest level. They are still the why, but the how has evolved.

In my years of broadcasting, women bring a glow of positivity to their chosen sport and choose to express that. They speak freely of their ups and downs, wholly unafraid to bring emotion to the fore. By and large they are in touch with their inner spirit and are not encumbered by showing it.

An absolute of sport is this: loss is not only inevitable, it is the dominant result in sporting theatre. There is one champion. There is one gold medallist, there is one world record holder. The rest are merely cogs in the wheel.

To travel the distance, there must be joy, if not, the exercise is pointless.

Strive to win, play the game. You want to win, but don’t need it. Your experience has given you everything.

Don’t judge your worth on the final result.

Celebrate the adventure. Your game, your experience, your decision.

Keep smiling.