New Zealand at the 1968 Summer Olympics

New Zealand at the 1968 Summer Olympics
IOC code	NZL
NOC	New Zealand Olympic and British Commonwealth Games Association
Website	www.olympic.org.nz
in Mexico City
Competitors	52 (47 men, 5 women) in 8 sports
Flag bearer	Don Oliver (weightlifting)
Officials	16
Medals Ranked 27th	Gold 1 Silver 0 Bronze 2 Total 3
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Other related appearances
Australasia (1908–1912)

New Zealand at the 1968 Summer Olympics was represented by a team of 52 competitors, 47 men and five women, who took part in 26 events across eight sports. ^[1] Selection of the team for the Games in Mexico City, Mexico, was the responsibility of the New Zealand Olympic and British Commonwealth Games Association. New Zealand's flagbearer at the opening ceremony was Don Oliver. The New Zealand team finished 27th on the medal table, winning a total of three medals, one of which was gold.

Medal tables

Medal	Name	Sport	Event	Date
Gold	Warren Cole Ross Collinge Simon Dickie Dick Joyce Dudley Storey	Rowing	Men's coxed four	19 October
Bronze	Ian Ballinger	Shooting	Mixed 50 metre rifle, prone	19 October
Bronze	Mike Ryan	Athletics	Men's marathon	20 October

Medals by sport
Sport				Total
Rowing	1	0	0	1
Athletics	0	0	1	1
Shooting	0	0	1	1
Total	1	0	2	3

Medals by gender
Gender				Total
Male	1	0	1	2
Female	0	0	0	0
Mixed / open	0	0	1	1
Total	1	0	2	3

Athletics

Main article: Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics

Track and road

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Result	Rank [i]	Result	Rank [ii]	Result	Rank
Roger Johnson	Men's 400 m hurdles	51.3	2 Q	51.8	7	did not advance
Rex Maddaford	Men's 5000 m	14:20.8	4 Q	—N/a		14:39.8	10
	Men's 10,000 m	—N/a				30:17.2	12
Evan Maguire	Men's 10,000 m	—N/a				DNF
Dave McKenzie	Men's marathon	—N/a				2:43:36	37
Sylvia Potts	Women's 800 m	2:09.6	4 Q	2:07.2	6	did not advance
Mike Ryan	Men's marathon	—N/a				2:23:45
Peter Welsh	Men's 3000 m steeplechase	9:13.8	6	—N/a		did not advance

1. Ranks given are within the heat
2. Ranks given are within the semifinal

Field

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Les Mills	Men's shot put	19.00	11 Q	18.18	11
Robin Tait	Men's discus throw	58.88	9 Q	57.68	12

Cycling

Main article: Cycling at the 1968 Summer Olympics

Five cyclists represented New Zealand in 1968.

Road

Men's individual road race

Athlete	Time	Rank
Bryce Beeston	DNF
John Dean	DNF
Des Thomson	5:02:33.62	52
Richie Thomson	DNF

Men's team time trial

Athlete	Time	Rank
John Dean Neil Lyster Des Thomson Richie Thomson	2:25:46.47	23

Field hockey

Main article: Field hockey at the 1968 Summer Olympics

Men's tournament

Team roster

John Anslow Jan Borren Roger Capey John Christensen John Hicks Bruce Judge Barry Maister Selwyn Maister	Trevor Manning Alan McIntyre Ross McPherson Jim Palmer Alan Patterson Ted Salmon Bill Thomson Keith Thomson

Group A

13 October 1968 (1968-10-13) New Zealand   2–1   India

14 October 1968 (1968-10-14) New Zealand   2–0   Mexico

15 October 1968 (1968-10-15) New Zealand   1–1   East Germany

17 October 1968 (1968-10-17) New Zealand   1–0   Japan

18 October 1968 (1968-10-18) New Zealand   0–0   West Germany

20 October 1968 (1968-10-20) New Zealand   1–1   Belgium

21 October 1968 (1968-10-21) New Zealand   1–1   Spain

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts	Qualification
India	7	6	0	1	20	4	12	Advance to semi-finals
West Germany	7	5	1	1	15	5	11	Advance to semi-finals
New Zealand	7	3	4	0	10	8	10	5th–8th place classification
Spain	7	2	3	2	7	5	7	5th–8th place classification
Belgium	7	3	1	3	14	9	7	9th / 10th place play-off
East Germany	7	2	2	3	7	10	6	11th / 12th place play-off
Japan	7	1	1	5	4	14	3	13th / 14th place play-off
Mexico	7	0	0	7	2	26	0	15th / 16th place play-off

5th–8th Classification matches

23 October 1968 (1968-10-23) Netherlands   3–1   New Zealand

7th / 8th Place play-off

25 October 1968 (1968-10-25) New Zealand   2–0   Kenya

New Zealand finished the men's field hockey tournament in seventh place.

Rowing

Main article: Rowing at the 1968 Summer Olympics

See also: List of New Zealand rowers at the Summer Olympics

In 1968, New Zealand entered boats in two of the seven events: ^[2] men's coxed four ^[3] and men's eight. ^[4] The competition was for men only; women would first row at the 1976 Summer Olympics. ^[5]

Athlete	Event	Heats		Repechage		Semi-finals		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Warren Cole Ross Collinge Dick Joyce Dudley Storey Simon Dickie (cox)	Coxed four	7:12.19	1 QS	Bye		6:48.65	1 FA	6:45.62
Alan Webster Wybo Veldman Alistair Dryden John Hunter Mark Brownlee John Gibbons Tom Just Gil Cawood Robert Page (cox)	Coxed eight	6:05.62	1 FA	Bye		—N/a		6:10.43	4

Sailing

Main article: Sailing at the 1968 Summer Olympics

Athlete	Event	Race							Net points	Final rank
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Jonty Farmer	Finn	19.0	3.0	11.7	25.0	25.0	13.0	40.0 DNF	96.7	11
Ralph Roberts Geoff Smale (helm)	Flying Dutchman	39.0 DSQ	14.0	15.0	18.0	15.0	14.0	8.0	84.0	8

• Graham Mander was the reserve Flying Dutchman skipper.

Shooting

Main article: Shooting at the 1968 Summer Olympics

Two male shooters represented New Zealand in 1968 with Ian Ballinger winning a bronze medal.

Athlete	Event	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Total	Rank
Ian Ballinger	Mixed 50 m rifle, prone	98	100	100	99	100	100	597
Stew Nairn	Mixed 50 m rifle, prone	99	99	98	100	98	100	594	12

Swimming

Main article: Swimming at the 1968 Summer Olympics

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Pru Chapman	Women's 100 m backstroke	1:15.2	32	did not advance
	Women's 200 m individual medley	2:42.1	=23	—N/a		did not advance
Tui Shipston	Women's 200 m individual medley	2:35.5	9	—N/a		did not advance
	Women's 400 m individual medley	5:33.7	=7 Q	—N/a		5:34.6	7
	Women's 800 m freestyle	10:28.0	19	—N/a		did not advance
Glenda Stirling	Women's 100 m backstroke	1:10.2	=7 Q	1:10.1	8 Q	1:10.6	8
	Women's 200 m backstroke	2:40.3	22	—N/a		did not advance
Sandra Whittleston	Women's 100 m butterfly	1:08.5	=9 Q	1:08.7	12	did not advance
	Women's 200 m butterfly	2:39.7	=11	—N/a		did not advance
Glenda Stirling Pru Chapman Sandra Whittleston Tui Shipston	Women's 4 × 100 m medley relay	4:49.0	11	—N/a		did not advance

Weightlifting

Main article: Weightlifting at the 1968 Summer Olympics

Athlete	Event	Press		Snatch		Clean & Jerk		Total	Rank
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
John Bolton	Men's light heavyweight	137.5	=11	122.5	16	160.0	=15	420.0	16
Don Oliver	Men's heavyweight	147.5	13	142.5	=9	200.0	5	490.0	8

Officials

• Chef de Mission – Lloyd Hosking ^[6]
• Assistant team manager – Don Croot ^[7]
• Team doctor – Mayne Smeeton ^[8]
• Chaperone – Norma Williams ^[7]
• Athletics section manager – Laurie O'Keefe ^[9]
• Cycling section manager – Clive Herbert ^[9]
• Hockey section manager – Ray Mackinlay ^[9]
• Rowing coach – Rusty Robertson ^[9]
• Sailing section manager – Hugh Poole ^[9]
• Shooting section manager – Neilson Rees ^[9]
• Swimming section manager – Roly Webb ^[9]
• Weightlifting section manager – Paul Newberry ^[9]

References

1. "New Zealand at the 1968 Mexico City Summer Games". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
2. "New Zealand Rowing at the 1968 Ciudad de México Summer Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
3. "Rowing at the 1968 Ciudad de México Summer Games: Men's Coxed Fours". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
4. "Rowing at the 1968 Ciudad de México Summer Games: Men's Coxed Eights". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
5. "Rowing at the 1976 Montréal Summer Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
6. "Mr Hosking to manage team". The Press . 24 April 1968. p. 19. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
7. "Olympic officials". The Press . Vol. 108, no. 31685. 22 May 1968. p. 16. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
8. "Future teams". The Press . 11 December 1968. p. 20. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
9. "Olympic team ready to answer vital questions". The Press . Vol. 108, no. 31808. 12 October 1968. p. 15. Retrieved 12 August 2022.

External links

• Coxed four win Gold in Mexico 1968 on YouTube