Sprinter Zoe Hobbs has scooped the top sports prize in Taranaki.
The 26-year-old was named sportsperson of the year at the Taranaki Sports Awards on Friday evening, together with sportswoman of the year for a second consecutive year.
“I’m really grateful for the opportunity to grow up here [in Taranaki]. It’s given me and my sporting life a chance to be able to take part in different sports,” Hobbs told guests at the awards event in New Plymouth, a Sports News Taranaki report said.
In a breakthrough year, Hobbs went under 11 seconds for the 100m for the first time, and in July set a career-best time of 10.96 secs in Switzerland.
In August, she had her most successful world athletics championships campaign to date, missing qualification for the final in Budapest by just 0.01s.
She would have become the first-ever Kiwi, male or female, to make a world 100m final had she qualified.