A Halberg Award is not easy to come by. It’s one of New Zealand’s most prestigious sporting honours.
It’s exactly what makes Danielle Aitchison’s recent and “totally unexpected” achievement one worth remembering.
The 63rd ISPS Handa Halberg Awards took place last month at Spark Arena, Auckland, to celebrate sports heroes who have made a permanent impression on the sporting community.
The 24-year-old para athlete from Patetonga was nominated for the ISPS Handa Para Athlete/Team of the Year for the 2025 season, alongside paralympian Cameron Leslie, para athlete Lisa Adams, and para cyclists Nicole Murray and Devon Briggs.
“I kind of had my suspicion that another athlete was going to win”, Danielle told The Profile, so when she found out she clinched the win, she was speechless.
“To win was totally unexpected, and it was literally moments before I went and I said to mum [that] I didn’t even have a speech written if I won. She was like, ‘I guess you better start thinking of one’. I knew that I had an amazing year, but there were so many other para athletes also up for the award that had also had amazing years.”
Danielle shared a speech “off the cuff, from the bottom of my heart”, saying a “massive thank you” to those who helped her.
Even though “it wasn’t a typical year for me”, the prestigious prize winner said she was “incredibly grateful” she received the award and recognition for the two gold medals she snapped up at the 2025 World Para Athletics Championships.
The speedster said she was grateful for the “athletic journey that I’ve had so far”.
She was blown away by just how many athletics athletes and coaches were not only nominated for awards but also won, such as: Coach of the Year James Sandilands, Sportsman of the Year Hamish Kerr and Emerging Talent of the Year Sam Ruth. “It was just really special to see such progress in our sport, and also see that we are being recognised. It’s just such a cool experience to see so many of us up for awards, you just don’t see that very often.”
Her achievement makes her the eighth para-athlete to receive the award since it was created in 2011, and the third para athletics recipient alongside past winners Anna Grimaldi and Liam Malone.
The weight of such a highly esteemed tribute sat with Danielle.
“I think that winning the Halbergs is a massive recognition. As sports people, we train hard, we grind hard, and we compete hard, and to be recognized – to even be nominated is a massive honour and privilege amongst all the other sports people,” she said.
While Danielle was back into full-time training again for the sprint season, she was also in the swing of part-time studying for a Master in Sport, Health and Human Performance at The University of Waikato.
Her passion to work hard for the love of it was as clear as day.
“I don’t train hard, I don’t compete hard to win a para-athlete of the year [award]. I do it because I love it, and I love the grind and I love feeling the accomplishments that I get from it, and seeing all the hard work come to fruition.
“Winning Para Athlete of the Year is just like the little cherry on top of the cake. It’s such a prestigious award to win, and it’s just incredibly humbling to think that I’m amongst all those amazing other sports people that have come before me,” she said.
“It’s just crazy to think that I’m up there, I don’t see myself like this amazing sports person to be up there with Richie McCaw and Valerie Adams and all those amazing sports people. I’m just regular Danielle who trains hard, competes hard, and has a few gold medals to my name.”
By DAVIDDA HIKATANGATA
