'A lot to achieve': Supreme Halberg winner Hamish Kerr tells us his 2026 plans

High Jumper Hamish Kerr cleaned up at the 63rd Halberg Awards in Auckland last night. Defending his ‘Sportsman of the Year’ title, while also walking away with the big one - the ‘Supreme Halberg Award’. 

The 29-year-old has done it all: Olympic gold medal, Commonwealth gold medal, World Champion, and the Lonsdale cup, so I had to ask him, “What’s left for you to achieve?” 

Being the humble athlete he is, he insisted: “There’s still a lot for me to achieve.” 

He admitted that it has “been tough” to “try and reframe what winning looks like to me and what success looks like to me.” 

Instead of chasing every trophy (which he’ll win anyway), he’s focusing on what got him into the sport - being out there with his mates on a hot summer’s day, and just trying to be better. 

We can expect Kerr to push himself to “new heights” this coming year, and to explore exactly what his limits are. 

One thing about him, too, is that he’s not afraid to have a good laugh. I asked him about recently jumping over Breeze Canterbury host Fitzy, and he joked, “I wouldn’t say that Fitzy was a massive challenge.” 

Some would say it was a breeze of a task… lol.

As for completing a standing jump over me, a 153cm reporter, he said, “probably not in the get up, but it wouldn’t be too hard.” 

In 2026, he’s tackling the Commonwealth Games, where he won his first-ever big medal. He’s looking to defend his title, but is just excited to “put the NZ singlet on and represent the country.”  

Hamish wasn't the only chat we had last night, with NZ Sporting Moment winners, and a Hall of Fame Inductee giving us some great insights too. More to come..