New Zealand Olympic medallists

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New Zealand at the Olympic Games

Flag of New Zealand
IOC code  NZL
NOC New Zealand Olympic Committee
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Olympic history
Summer Games
1908* • 1912* • 1920 • 1924 • 1928 • 1932 • 1936 • 1948 • 1952 • 1956 • 1960 • 1964 • 1968 • 1972 • 1976 • 1980 • 1984 • 1988 • 1992 • 1996 • 2000 • 2004 • 2008

*with Australia as Australasia
Winter Games
1952 • 1956 • 1960 • 1964 • 1968 • 1972 • 1976 • 1980 • 1984 • 1988 • 1992 • 1994 • 1998 • 2002 • 2006

New Zealand Olympic medallists have built up a fine sporting reputation for their small country which has only a fifth of the population of greater New York city. The international media has often reported that New Zealand punches well above its weight in Olympic Games competition. Being located in the remote South Pacific, New Zealanders needed to endure long sea voyages to attend the early Olympics. It wasn’t until the VII Olympiad in 1920 that New Zealand sent its first team, comprising two runners, a rower, and a 15-year-old girl swimmer. Prior to that however, three New Zealanders had won medals competing for Australasian teams in 1908 and 1912. Since 1920 New Zealand has failed to win a medal at the Summer Olympics on only 2 occasions, London in 1948 and Moscow in 1980 when only 4 competitors, 3 canoeists and a modern pentathlete, were sent as a result of a sporting boycott.[1].

Over the years, teams from Southern Hemisphere countries have had the disadvantage of needing to peak to compete in summer sports which are held during their winter months. Only two Olympics have ever been held in the Southern Hemisphere, the XVI Olympiad in Melbourne in 1956 and the XXVII Olympiad in Sydney in 2000.

New Zealand is a temperate country, without severe winters experienced by many countries in the Northern Hemisphere. Consequently, only a very small proportion of young New Zealanders ever experience winter sports involving snow or ice, or ever learn to ski or skate, and the same applies to many other Southern Hemisphere countries as well. In 1992, Annelise Coberger of New Zealand became the first person from the Southern Hemisphere to win a medal at the Winter Olympics when she won silver in the slalom at Albertville in France. Her medal is included in the list below.

There has always been great rivalry between New Zealand and Australian Olympians, and some gentle ribbing from the media on both sides of the Tasman Sea. In 1984, some Australian media outlets poked fun at the Kiwi gold medallists, saying they had been sitting down on the job at the Los Angeles games where they were successful in canoeing, equestrian, rowing and sailing. The New Zealand media simply retaliated by pointing out that New Zealand had finished 8th on the final medals table, and Australia only 14th. However, this and 1976, when Australia failed to win a gold medal, were the only years where New Zealand finished higher than Australia.

The following table lists the total medals won by New Zealanders through to the end of the Athens games.

Gold Silver Bronze Total
34 15 32 81


Contents

[edit] Gold

[edit] Silver

[edit] Bronze

[edit] Most successful Olympians

The following is a list of New Zealanders who have won 3 or more Olympic medals:


Name Gold Silver Bronze Total
Ian Ferguson 4 1 - 5
Paul MacDonald 3 1 1 5
Mark Todd 2 - 2 4
Blyth Tait 1 1 2 4
Peter Snell 3 - - 3
Danyon Loader 2 1 - 3
Simon Dickie 2 - 1 3
Barbara Kendall 1 1 1 3

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Bruce Biddle originally finished fourth in the cycling road race. When the original Bronze medallist was subsequently disqualified for drug usage Biddle should have been placed third. However he was not awarded the Bronze medal as he had not been asked to take a drugs test. Despite the continued efforts of the New Zealand Olympic Committee the International Olympic Committee refused to overturn it's decision.
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