{"id":557183,"date":"2026-08-03T06:18:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T06:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/557183\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T06:18:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T06:18:08","slug":"natasha-ward-remembered-after-australian-athlete-dies-aged-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/557183\/","title":{"rendered":"Natasha Ward remembered after Australian athlete dies aged 21"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"TErgZkLeGvuOzWkL\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cNatasha\u2019s enthusiasm and determination inspired her training partners.<\/p>\n<p class=\"TErgZkLeGvuOzWkL\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cOur thoughts are with Natasha\u2019s family, friends, and everyone who had the privilege of knowing her. RIP Natasha.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img  alt=\"Tragedy has rocked the athletic community in NSW, with the passing of 21-year-old All Schools medalist Natasha Ward.\" class=\"article-media__image responsively-lazy\" data-test-ui=\"article-media__image\"\/>Tragedy has rocked the athletic community in NSW, with the passing of 21-year-old All Schools medalist Natasha Ward.<\/p>\n<p class=\"TErgZkLeGvuOzWkL\" style=\"display:none\">Her death comes just weeks after fellow rising Australian sprinter Jemma Stapleton, 25, died while on holiday in Thailand. <\/p>\n<p class=\"TErgZkLeGvuOzWkL\" style=\"display:none\">Stapleton was killed after coming off a motorbike in Thailand while travelling with her parents and brothers, 7News reported.<\/p>\n<p class=\"TErgZkLeGvuOzWkL\" style=\"display:none\">The star from Melbourne was a finalist in the 2025 Stawell Gift, which is one of Australia\u2019s most prestigious races.<\/p>\n<p class=\"TErgZkLeGvuOzWkL\" style=\"display:none\">The Victorian Athletic League said Stapleton was a valued member of the community \u201cwhose presence, character and contribution left a lasting impact on those around her\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"TErgZkLeGvuOzWkL\" style=\"display:none\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/my-account\/profile\/newsletters\/?from=cmp\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/my-account\/profile\/newsletters\/?from=cmp\">Sign up to Herald Premium Editor\u2019s Picks<\/a>, delivered straight to your inbox every Friday. Editor-in-Chief Murray Kirkness picks the week\u2019s best features, interviews and investigations. Sign up for Herald Premium <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/my-account\/subscription\/offers\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/my-account\/subscription\/offers\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cNatasha\u2019s enthusiasm and determination inspired her training partners. \u201cOur thoughts are with Natasha\u2019s family, friends, and everyone who&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":557184,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[652,62507,74,18919,49638,16671,1135,1259,7126,2225,15121,162339,111,139,69,15120,6641,213,19791],"class_list":["post-557183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-652","tag-21yearold","tag-after","tag-aged","tag-athlete","tag-athletics","tag-australian","tag-community","tag-dies","tag-loss","tag-mourning","tag-natasha","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-remembered","tag-runner","tag-sports","tag-ward"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=557183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/557184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=557183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=557183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=557183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}