This article needs additional citations for verification .(March 2017) |
New Zealand at the Olympics | |
---|---|
IOC code | NZL |
NOC | New Zealand Olympic Committee |
Website | www |
Medals |
|
Summer appearances | |
Winter appearances | |
Other related appearances | |
Australasia (1908–1912) |
New Zealand Olympic medallists' success for New Zealand at the Olympics is often considered to be notable due to the relatively small population of the country (5.22 million as of June 2023). Being located in the remote South Pacific, New Zealanders needed to endure long sea voyages to attend the early Olympics. It was not until the VII Olympiad in 1920 that New Zealand sent its first team. Prior to that, three New Zealanders won medals competing for Australasian teams in 1908 and 1912. On only two occasions since 1920 has New Zealand failed to win a medal at the Summer Olympics, in 1948 at London and in 1980 at Moscow, when only four competitors were sent as a result of the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott. [1]
New Zealand has had a much smaller participation in the Winter Olympics, due to the country's temperate climate, not generally experiencing the severe winters to lowland levels, common in many countries in the Northern Hemisphere. The first New Zealand team to attend a Winter Olympics was in 1952. The nation has only won medals at three Winter games, in 1992, 2018 and 2022.
The sporting rivalry between New Zealand and bigger neighbour Australia has been evident at many Olympic Games. In 1984, some Australian media outlets poked fun at the New Zealand 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 pointed out that New Zealand had finished 8th on the final medals table, and Australia only 14th. New Zealand has finished higher than Australia on the medals table at the Summer Olympics only in 1976, when Australia failed to win a gold medal, and Los Angeles in 1984.
At the 1972 Summer Olympics, 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 its decision.
# | Medal | Games | Name | Competing for | Sport | Event | Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Gold | 1900 Paris | Victor Lindberg | Great Britain | Water polo | Men's tournament | 12 August 1900 |
2 | Bronze | 1908 London | Harry Kerr | Australasia | Athletics | Men's 3500 m walk | 14 July 1908 |
3 | Bronze | 1912 Stockholm | Tony Wilding | Australasia | Tennis | Men's indoor singles | 12 May 1912 |
4 | Gold | 1912 Stockholm | Malcolm Champion | Australasia | Swimming | Men's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay | 15 July 1912 |
The following table lists all Olympic medals won by New Zealanders 20 years or younger. [3] [4]
Name | Age | Date of birth | Medal date | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nico Porteous | 16 years, 91 days | 23 November 2001 | 22 February 2018 | ||
Zoi Sadowski-Synnott | 16 years, 353 days | 6 March 2001 | 22 February 2018 | Youngest female medallist | |
Danyon Loader [3] | 17 years, 100 days | 21 April 1975 | 30 July 1992 | Youngest Summer medallist | |
Simon Dickie [4] | 17 years, 202 days | 31 March 1951 | 19 October 1968 | Youngest gold medallist | |
Brett Hollister | 18 years, 78 days | 19 May 1966 | 5 August 1984 | ||
Terina Te Tamaki | 19 years, 79 days | 1 May 1997 | 8 August 2016 | Youngest female Summer medallist | |
Lydia Ko | 19 years, 118 days | 24 April 1997 | 20 August 2016 | ||
Eliza McCartney | 19 years, 252 days | 11 December 1996 | 19 August 2016 | ||
David Tua | 19 years, 261 days | 21 November 1972 | 8 August 1992 | ||
Jesse Sergent | 20 years, 41 days | 8 July 1988 | 18 August 2008 | ||
Bruce Kendall | 20 years, 42 days | 27 June 1964 | 8 August 1984 | ||
Gayle Broughton | 20 years, 64 days | 5 June 1996 | 8 August 2016 | ||
Nico Porteous | 20 years, 88 days | 23 November 2001 | 19 February 2022 | Youngest Winter gold medallist | |
Annelise Coberger | 20 years, 157 days | 16 September 1971 | 20 February 1992 | ||
Jorja Miller | 20 years, 173 days | 8 February 2004 | 30 July 2024 | Youngest female Summer gold medallist | |
Tara Vaughan | 20 years, 224 days | 28 December 2003 | 8 August 2024 | ||
Zoi Sadowski-Synnott | 20 years, 337 days | 6 March 2001 | 6 February 2022 | Youngest female Winter gold medallist | |
Zoi Sadowski-Synnott | 20 years, 346 days | 6 March 2001 | 15 February 2022 | Youngest triple medallist |
The following table lists all Olympic medals won by New Zealanders 36 years and older.
Name | Age | Date of birth | Medal date | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mark Todd | 56 years, 134 days | 1 March 1956 | 31 July 2012 | ||
Andrew Nicholson | 50 years, 365 days | 1 August 1961 | 31 July 2012 | ||
Ian Ballinger | 46 years, 364 days | 21 October 1925 | 19 October 1968 | ||
Vicky Latta | 45 years, 44 days | 10 June 1951 | 24 July 1996 | Oldest female medallist | |
Mark Todd | 44 years, 205 days | 1 March 1956 | 22 September 2000 | ||
Chris Timms | 41 years, 187 days | 24 March 1947 | 27 September 1988 | ||
Vicky Latta | 41 years, 50 days | 10 June 1951 | 30 July 1992 | ||
Caroline Powell | 39 years, 139 days | 14 March 1973 | 31 July 2012 | ||
Sally Clark | 38 years, 106 days | 11 April 1958 | 26 July 1996 | ||
Rex Sellers | 37 years, 321 days | 11 November 1950 | 27 September 1988 | ||
Mahé Drysdale | 37 years, 268 days | 19 November 1978 | 13 August 2016 | Oldest gold medallist | |
Emma Twigg | 37 years, 156 days | 1 March 1987 | 3 August 2024 | ||
Chris Timms | 37 years, 137 days | 24 March 1947 | 8 August 1984 | ||
Lorraine Moller | 37 years, 61 days | 1 June 1955 | 1 August 1992 | ||
Rod Davis | 36 years, 342 days | 27 August 1955 | 3 August 1992 | ||
Valerie Adams | 36 years, 299 days | 6 October 1984 | 1 August 2021 |
New Zealanders who have won two or more gold medals, or three or more medals total:
Sir Peter George Snell was a New Zealand middle-distance runner. He won three Olympic gold medals, and is the only man since 1920 to have won the 800 and 1500 metres at the same Olympics, in 1964.
Dame Valerie Kasanita Adams is a retired New Zealand shot putter. She is a four-time World champion, four-time World Indoor champion, two-time Olympic, three-time Commonwealth Games champion and twice IAAF Continental Cup winner. She has a personal best throw of 21.24 metres (69.7 ft) outdoors and 20.98 metres (68.8 ft) indoors. These marks are Oceanian, Commonwealth and New Zealand national records. She also holds the Oceanian junior record (18.93 m) and the Oceanian youth record (17.54 m), as well as the World Championships record, World Indoor Championships record and Commonwealth Games record.
Ian Gordon Ferguson is New Zealand's second most successful Olympian. He won four Olympic gold medals competing in K1, K2, and K4 kayak events, and attended five Summer Olympics between 1976 and 1992. He also won two canoe sprint world championship titles.
Alexander Mahé Owens Drysdale is a New Zealand politician and retired rower. Drysdale is a two-time Olympic champion and a five-time world champion in the single sculls. He is a seven-time New Zealand national champion and five-time recipient of New Zealand Sportsman of the Year. He is the current mayor of Tauranga.
New Zealand first sent an independent team to the Olympics in 1920. Before this, at the 1908 and 1912 Summer Olympics, New Zealand and Australian athletes competed together in a combined Australasia team. New Zealand has also participated in most Winter Olympic Games since 1952, missing only the 1956 and 1964 Games.
Lauren Marie Boyle is a former competitive swimmer from New Zealand. She has competed at three Commonwealth Games and three Olympic Games.
New Zealand competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This was the nation's twenty-fourth appearance at the Olympics. The New Zealand Olympic Committee sent 184 athletes, 97 men, and 87 women to the Games to compete in 16 sports, the nation's largest ever delegation.
Dame Lisa Marie Carrington is a flatwater canoeist and New Zealand's most successful Olympian, having won a total of eight gold medals and one bronze medal. She won three consecutive gold medals in the Women's K‑1 200 metres at the 2012 Summer Olympics, 2016 Summer Olympics and 2020 Summer Olympics, as well as gold in the same event at the 2011 Canoe Sprint World Championships. At the 2020 Summer Olympics she also won a gold medal in the K‑2 500 metres, with Caitlin Regal, and as an individual in the K‑1 500 metres. At the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, Carrington defended her titles in the K‑1 500 metres and K‑2 500 metres event and also won the K‑4 500 metres event. Carrington equalled Danuta Kozák's record of winning all three K-1, K-2, K-4 events, over 500 metres, at one Olympics.
New Zealand competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's twenty-third appearance as an independent nation at the Summer Olympics, having made its debut at the 1920 Games and competed at every Games since. The New Zealand team consisted of 199 athletes, 100 women and 99 men, across twenty sports, the first time New Zealand was represented by more women than men at the Summer Olympics.
Eliza McCartney is a New Zealand track and field athlete who competes in the pole vault and won the bronze medal in this event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She is the current New Zealand and Oceania record holder at 4.94 m, and is the outdoor world junior record holder at 4.64 m. She also won the silver medal at the Summer Universiade in 2015. In 2018, she placed second at the Commonwealth Games.
Terina Lily Te Tamaki is a New Zealand rugby union player.
New Zealand competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the 2020 Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the country's twenty-fourth appearance as an independent nation at the Summer Olympics, having made its debut at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp and competed at every Games since. The New Zealand team consisted of 212 athletes, 112 men and 100 women, across twenty-one sports.
New Zealand competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, from 9 to 25 February 2018. The team consisted of 21 athletes, 17 men and 4 women, across five sports.
Zoi Katherine Sadowski-Synnott is a New Zealand snowboarder, specialising in slopestyle and big air competitions. She won the gold medal in the women's slopestyle and silver in the big air at the 2022 Winter Olympics, becoming New Zealand's first gold medallist and first to win multiple medals at the Winter Olympics. She also won the bronze medal in the women's big air at the 2018 Winter Olympics, and won the women's slopestyle title at the 2019 World Championships.
Nico Porteous is a New Zealand freestyle skier and an Olympic champion. He is New Zealand's youngest Olympic Games medallist, having won a bronze medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics at the age of 16. He became New Zealand's second Winter Olympic gold medallist, and first male, with his win in men's halfpipe at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
Ellesse Andrews is a New Zealand racing cyclist. She represented New Zealand at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and the 2020 Summer Olympics, where she gained a silver medal in the keirin. At the 2024 Summer Olympics, she earned two gold medals for winning the keirin and sprint, as well as a silver medal in the team sprint.
Alicia Hoskin is a New Zealand flatwater canoeist. At the 2024 Summer Olympics, she won two gold medals, in the K‑2 500 metres and the K‑4 500 metres events.
New Zealand competed at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China, from 4 to 20 February 2022. The New Zealand team consisted of 15 athletes—nine men and six women—who competed in five sports. Selection of the New Zealand team was the responsibility of the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC).
Alena Saili is a New Zealand rugby sevens player.is a New Zealand rugby union player. She plays seven-a-side and fifteen-a-side rugby union, and is a member of the New Zealand women's national rugby sevens team.