Do we like Eliza McCartney?
Our score: 8 out of 10. A clean record on the harm search, a public stand for fellow athletes and a few kind acts, but the record is thinner than a saint's.
The fresh news is a good one. In Glasgow, Eliza McCartney cleared 4.65m on her first attempt, and Australia's Nina Kennedy missed her third go at 4.70m, which handed the Kiwi the gold. It was her first win at a major international event after earlier silver and bronze finishes.
Her reaction was very relatable. She said “This is the first time I've won something!” and described a cold, dark, windy comp that was hard work. A few days later she was named flag bearer for the closing ceremony, with the team's chef de mission praising her resilience and courage.
Backstory, short version: she won Olympic bronze in Rio in 2016 and has been one of New Zealand's best-known athletes since. A decade on, the Glasgow gold reads as a long-awaited payoff for a career that took a lot of grit to keep going.
On the harm test, we went looking and came up empty. Searches on LGBTQ+ issues, women, climate, vaccines, migrants and politics turned up nothing from her that is harmful. That is not the same as a loud record of support, so we can't say she has campaigned for those causes, only that nothing nasty showed up.
The most telling thing is a stand she took for others. In May 2024 she posted an Instagram Story urging the New Zealand Olympic Committee to “reconsider the top 16 philosophy”. She said it cost qualified athletes experience, sponsors and funding. She also said she had never been adversely affected by the policy herself, so it wasn't about her.
So the verdict: she passes both tests, and the record is clean rather than crowded. The only reason this isn't a perfect 10 is that there isn't a long public track record of her backing others beyond sport.