Olympic Team

For the Olympic Games 2008 in Beijing this year, New Zealand will send its 1000^th Olympian overseas to compete. This commemorates exactly 100 years since the first Kiwi athletes were sent to compete in the Olympics in London, 1908. Three representatives were sent alongside the Australian team to represented a combined ‘Australasian' team, whereby NZ brought home one bronze medal of its own (Harry Kerr, walker).

The New Zealand Olympic team has come a long way since 1908, winning a total of 34 gold medals, 15 silver medals and 32 bronze medals over the past 100 years. Over the years, New Zealanders have had the disadvantage of needing to compete for Summer Olympic Games in their usual off-season modes, as the Games are normally held in the Northern Hemisphere where the seasons are reversed, being held during New Zealand winter. Only twice have the Games been held in the Southern Hemisphere: Melbourne, 1956 and Sydney, 2000. 

Team History

New Zealand and Australia first competed against each other Antwerp, 1920, although this was initially planned to take place for the 1916 Berlin Olympics, which were cancelled due to World War One. NZ's first gold medal was one in a team with Australia by Malcolm Champion for relay swimming in 1912, and first individual gold medal won by boxer Ted Morgan in 1928. New Zealand's medal count has finished higher than Australia's twice in Olympic history - in Montreal, 1976 and in Los Angeles, 1984.

Perhaps New Zealand's most famous Olympian is runner Peter Snell, who won three gold medals in his short career: the 800m gold medal in Rome, 1960, and the 800m and 1500m in Tokyo, 1964. Snell was a protégé of world renowned Kiwi athletics coach Arthur Lydiard. Snell also famously broke the world mile record in 1962 in Whanganui, and gained significant New Zealand celebrity status throughout the country. In the early 1970s, Snell moved to the United States in a bid to reclaim a more normal life out of the spotlight, where he still resides today.

Only two athletes have won more gold medals that Snell, rowers Ian Ferguson (4 medals) and Paul MacDonald (3 medals). Just a handful of other athletes have won more than one gold in the last 100 years: Simon Dickie, Danyon Loader and Mark Todd (who will compete in his 6^th Olympic Games this year).

New Zealand's Olympic Team 2008

The 2008 Olympic team was fully decided in its entirety in early July 2008, with some delays to the selection of team event competitors because many of the team sports (basketball, soccer, hockey) were still competing in New Zealand in their seasonal tournaments when the initial Olympic team was announced.

Less than half of the New Zealand Olympic team will march in the opening ceremony in Beijing on August 8, as the athletics team has decided to stay behind in Hong Kong at their training camp until a day or two before the track and field events commence on August 14.

The appointed Olympic team members for 2008 are:

Athletics - Running

• Nicholas WILLIS
• James DOLPHIN
• Adrian BLINCOE
• Nina RILLSTONE
• Kimberley SMITH
• Liza HUNTER-GALVAN
• Rebecca WARDELL

Athletics -Javelin/Shotput/Discus

• Stuart FARQUHAR
• Valerie VILI
• Beatrice FAUMUINA

Cycling

• Glen CHADWICK
• Julian DEAN
• Marc RYAN
• Timothy GUDSELL
• Samuel BEWLEY
• Westley GOUGH
• Timothy GUDSELL
• Greg HENDERSON
• Peter LATHAM
• Jesse SERGENT
• Catherine CHEATLEY
• Hayden ROULSTON
• Joanne KIESANOWSKI
• Alison SHANKS

BMX

• Sarah WALKER
• Marc WILLERS

Mountain Bike

• Rosara JOSEPH
• Kashi LEUCHS

Triathlon

• Bevan DOCHERTY
• Kris GEMMELL
• Shane REED
• Andrea HEWITT
• Debbie TANNER
• Samantha WARRINER

Canoeing/Kayaking

• Steven FERGUSON
• Michael WALKER

• Ben FOUHY
• Erin TAYLOR
• Luuka JONES

Rowing

• Hamish BOND
• George BRIDGEWATER
• Nathan COHEN
• James DALLINGER
• Nathan TWADDLE
• Rob WADDELL
• Carl MEYER
• Eric MURRAY
• Mahe DRYSDALE
• Caroline EVERS-SWINDELL
• Georgina EVERS-SWINDELL
• Juliette HAIGH
• Nicola COLES
• Emma TWIGG

Sailing

• Thomas ASHLEY
• Peter BURLING
• Carl EVANS
• Andrew MURDOCH
• Hamish PEPPER
• Daniel SLATER
• Carl WILLIAMS
• Jo ALEH
• Barbara KENDALL

Swimming

• Daniel BELL
• Dean KENT
• Glenn SNYDERS
• Moss BURMESTER
• Cameron GIBSON
• Corney SWANEPOEL
• Elizabeth COSTER
• Natasha HIND
• Lauren BOYLE
• Melissa INGRAM
• Helen NORFOLK
• Hayley PALMER

Synchronised Swimming

• Lisa DANIELS
• Nina DANIELS

Tae-kwon-do

• Matthew BEACH
• Logan CAMPBELL
• Robin CHEONG

Tennis

• Marina ERAKOVIC

Badminton

• Craig COOPER
• John MOODY
• Renee FLAVELL

Weightlifting

• Richard PATTERSON
• Mark SPOONER

Shooting

• Robert EASTHAM
• Graeme EDE
• Nadine STANTON
• Yang WANG

Equestrian - events to take place in Hong Kong

• John MEYER
• Andrew NICHOLSON
• Mark TODD
• Heelan TOMPKINS
• Caroline POWELL
• Bruce GOODIN
• Daniel MEECH
• Sharn WORDLEY
• Katie MCVEAN

Hockey

• Ryan ARCHIBALD

• Gareth BROOKS
• Phillip BURROWS

• Blair HOPPING
• Simon CHILD
• David KOSOOF
• Benjamin COLLIER
• Dean COUZINS
• James NATION
• Steven EDWARDS
• Kyle PONTIFEX
• Bradley SHAW
• Hayden SHAW
• Paul WOOLFORD
• Casey HENWOOD
• Niniwa ROBERTS
• Krystal FORGESSON
• Joanne GALLETLY
• Sheree HORVATH
• Lizzy IGASAN
• Beth JURGELEIT
• Shea MCALEESE
• Emily NAYLOR
• Kimberley NOAKES
• Caryn PAEWAI
• Kate SAUNDERS
• Kayla SHARLAND
• Anita WAWATAI
• Stacey CARR
• Jaimee CLAXTON
• Tara DRYSDALE
• Gemma FLYNN

Football

• Michael BOXALL
• Jeremy BROCKIE
• Daniel ELLENSOHN
• Simon ELLIOTT
• Craig HENDERSON
• Ian HOGG
• Samuel JENKINS
• Chris KILLEN
• Renee LEOTA
• Liam LITTLE
• Samuel MESSAM
• Ryan NELSEN
• Steven OLD
• Marlies OOSTDAM
• Jack PELTER
• Cole PEVERLEY
• Aaron SCOTT
• Jacob SPOONLEY
• Cole TINKLER
• Shaun VAN ROOYEN
• Jenny BINDON
• Abby ERCEG
• Anna GREEN
• Amber HEARN
• Kristy HILL
• Katie HOYLE
• Emma KETE
• Emily MCCOLL
• Ria PERCIVAL
• Merissa SMITH
• Alexandra RILEY
• Rebecca TEGG
• Kirsty YALLOP
• Rebecca SMITH
• Hayley MOORWOOD
• Rachel HOWARD

Looking for more information on New Zealand sport? Check out the NZS.com directory.

Do you want to write for NZS.com, New Zealand's top Web directory? We are looking for New Zealand writers for our unique new article writing program - whereby you can write and submit articles for our website, and you will earn 50% of the revenue from the advertising on your article's page. Check out the Article Authors homepage to apply now!

Sports images from Flickr: Beijing, Yachts and Cricket.