Ben Sandford, (born 12 March 1979 in

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompass ...

) is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

skeleton racer Skeleton is a winter sliding sport in which a person rides a small sled, known as a skeleton bobsled (or -sleigh), down a frozen track while lying face down and head-first. The sport and the sled may have been named from the bony appearance of ...

who has competed since 2002. He finished tenth in the men's skeleton event at the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second t ...

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

. He finished 11th at the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...

Early life

Sandford was born and raised in Rotorua, attending

Rotorua Boys' High School Rotorua Boys' High School is a state school educating boys from Year 9 to Year 13. It is situated just outside the Rotorua, Rotorua CBD at the intersection of Old Taupo Road and Pukuatua Street in Rotorua, New Zealand. History Rotorua Boys' High ...

. He later attended the Victoria University of Wellington, where he graduated with bachelor's degrees in law and geography in 2002.

Sport career

Sandford's best finish at the

FIBT World Championships The IBSF World Championships (known as the FIBT World Championships until 2015), part of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, have taken place on an annual basis since 1930. Starting with 2002, championships of non-Winter Olympic ...

was 3rd in the men's skeleton event at Lake Placid in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

. With his bronze medal, Ben became the second person from the Southern Hemisphere to medal at the

, after his uncle

Bruce Sandford Bruce Sandford (born 18 July 1962) is a New Zealand skeleton racer who has competed in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He won a gold medal in the men's skeleton event at the 1992 FIBT World Championships in Calgary. Until 2012 when his neph ...

who won gold in the same event in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

. Due to his natural sporting talent, Sandford's introduction to Skeleton came after he led a Squash team representing Victoria University to an International University Squash Tournament held in Austria in 2002. The skeleton track was close to the host centre and Ben thought he would "give it a go." He has served as an athlete representative to the

New Zealand Olympic Committee The New Zealand Olympic Committee (before 1994, The ''New Zealand Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association'') is both the National Olympic Committee and the Commonwealth Games Association in New Zealand responsible for selecting athletes to re ...

since 2008 and the

World Anti-Doping Agency The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA; french: Agence mondiale antidopage, AMA) is a foundation initiated by the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against drugs in sports. The agency's key ...

since 2012. At the 2014 Congress of the

Federation Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobagganing The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF), originally known by the French name ''Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing'' (FIBT), is the international sports federation for bobsleigh and skeleton. It acts as ...

Sandford was elected as the federation's vice president for Legal Affairs, becoming the first person from Oceania to be elected to the FIBT's executive committee.

Political career

Sandford was the

New Zealand Labour Party The New Zealand Labour Party ( mi, Rōpū Reipa o Aotearoa), or simply Labour (), is a centre-left political party in New Zealand. The party's platform programme describes its founding principle as democratic socialism, while observers descr ...

's candidate for

at the

2017 general election This national electoral calendar for 2017 lists the national/federal elections held in 2017 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 November ...

, but was unsuccessful. Sandford was also ranked 57 on Labour's party list for the election. In July 2022, Sandford announced he would contest the

2022 Rotorua mayoral election The 2022 Rotorua mayoral election took place on 8 October 2022 to determine the Mayor of Rotorua. Incumbent mayor Steve Chadwick did not run for re-election. Candidates Declared candidates *Kalaadevi Ananda, businesswoman *Raj Kumar, district c ...

. He came second with 17.46%, losing to

Tania Tapsell Tania Tapsell (born 22 September 1992) is a New Zealand politician. She has served on the Rotorua Lakes District Council since 2013 and was elected mayor of Rotorua at the 2022 local elections. She is the first woman of Māori descent to hold th ...

. On 24 February, it was announced that Sandford would contest Rotorua for Labour again in the 2023 general election.

References

Other sources

2006 men's skeleton results (todor66.com)
* *

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sandford, Ben 1979 births Living people New Zealand male skeleton racers Olympic skeleton racers of New Zealand Skeleton racers at the 2006 Winter Olympics Skeleton racers at the 2010 Winter Olympics Skeleton racers at the 2014 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Rotorua World Anti-Doping Agency members New Zealand Labour Party politicians New Zealand sportsperson-politicians Unsuccessful candidates in the 2017 New Zealand general election 20th-century New Zealand people 21st-century New Zealand people People educated at Rotorua Boys' High School