Duane Kale has been appointed Chair of Sport and Recreation New Zealand (Sport NZ) and will also chair its subsidiary, High Performance Sport New Zealand (HPSNZ), Sport and Recreation Minister Mark Mitchell announced.

Kale has served as Deputy Chair of both boards since 2023. He has been on the Paralympics New Zealand Board and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) since 2013, and has held the IPC Vice President role since 2017. He was recently awarded the Paralympic Order. A four-time Paralympic gold medallist from the 1996 Games, Kale was Chef de Mission for New Zealand at the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Paralympic Games.

Mitchell thanked outgoing chair Raewyn Lovett for her tenure. Lovett joined the Sport NZ Board in 2018, became Deputy Chair in 2021 and Chair in July 2023.

Sport NZ sets strategy for community sport and recreation, while HPSNZ oversees elite high performance investment. The announcement did not specify the start date or term length for Kale’s appointment.