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Kōrero: East Coast region

Sportsmen: Tom Heeney welcomed in Gisborne

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Sportsmen: Tom Heeney welcomed in Gisborne

Despite failing to defeat world boxing champion Gene Tunney in a match at Yankee Stadium, New York, in July 1928, Tom Heeney was given a hero’s welcome when he returned to his home town, Gisborne, in October of that year. In this picture, taken on Gladstone Road in downtown Gisborne, Heeney is on the balcony above the flag.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Tairawhiti Museum, Te Whare Taonga O Te Tairawhiti

Reference: 045-72 120B-20028-46

Permission of Tairawhiti Museum, PO Box 716, Gisborne, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Monty Soutar, East Coast region – Sport and recreation, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/photograph/33443/sportsmen-tom-heeney-welcomed-in-gisborne (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Monty Soutar, i tāngia i te 23 August 2011, updated 1 March 2015.