Troy Garton and Tasmyn Benny are the latest Māori named in the Commonwealth Games squad, with the NZ boxing team announced today.
A total of 8 fighters will represent NZ in 6 weeks’ time, with the potential for gold within their reach.
Commonwealth Games newbie Troy Garton's smile says it all.
"It hasn’t quite sunken in yet. I’ve had a few days to process it, the tears have dried up," says Garton, "It’s amazing...it’s come so fast and just to have the opportunity...I’m proud of myself.”
Tasmyn Benny was at work when she got told the news and didn't have too much time to celebrate the milestone.
“I was in the Navy and we were actually in a deep clean and we were cleaning hard out, and I got a call from my coach and he told me I was in the [Commonwealth] Games, and I was in the bathroom and I was jumping up and down and I was so excited," says Benny, "I ran over to the next dorm and told my best friend, then I got on the phone with my parents and told them, then I had to get back to cleaning."
Cleaning will now take a step back for training for the 19 year-old as she prepares for her first Commonwealth Games.
She is targeting higher weight classes than her under 49kg category to gain additional experience.
This will also be Troy Garton's first Commonwealth Games.
The 29 year-old started her career in corporate boxing and went on to be the 2016 and 2017 NZ Golden Gloves champion.
She has a games ranking of seven.
The naming takes the total number of athletes selected to the New Zealand Commonwealth Games team to 168. Fifteen of the athletes are Māori.