New Zealand at the Olympics

Last updated
New Zealand at the
Olympics
Flag of New Zealand.svg
IOC code NZL
NOC New Zealand Olympic Committee
Website www.olympic.org.nz
Medals
Ranked 26th
Gold
55
Silver
35
Bronze
53
Total
143
Summer appearances
Winter appearances
Other related appearances
Flag of Australasian team for Olympic games.svg  Australasia (1908–1912)
The New Zealand rowing team at the 1932 Summer Olympics 1932 NZ Summer Olympics rowing team.jpg
The New Zealand rowing team at the 1932 Summer Olympics

New Zealand first sent an independent team to the Olympics in 1920. Prior to 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.

Contents

The New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) is the National Olympic Committee for New Zealand. The NZOC was founded in 1911, and recognised by the IOC in 1919.

New Zealand athletes have won a total of 143 medals, with 137 won at the Summer Games and six at the Winter Games. The most successful sports has been rowing with 29 medals, with athletics second with 26 medals. Prior to the 2022 Winter Olympics, the 140 medals won by New Zealand put the country at number 32 on the all-time Olympic Games medal table for total number of medals and number 24 when weighted by medal type.

Following the 2020 Summer Olympics, 1519 competitors had represented New Zealand at Olympic Games. Harry Kerr is considered [1] the first Kiwi Olympian [2] and Adrian Blincoe the 1000th. [3] On 11 June 2009 it was reported that of the 1111 Olympians to that date, 114 were deceased and the whereabouts of 21 were unknown. [3] By 25 June 2009 only 9 Olympians had not been located. [4] There are no living Kiwi Olympians from before the 1948 Olympics in London. [3]

New Zealand at the Summer Games

The first person from New Zealand to perform at the Olympic Games was Victor Lindberg, who competed for the Osborne Swimming Club of Great Britain which won the Water Polo at the 1900 Summer Olympics.

Due to its location in the South Pacific and distance from the early Olympic host cities in Europe and North America, New Zealanders needed to endure long sea voyages to participate. New Zealand sent its first independent team to the VII Olympiad in 1920, comprising two runners, a rower, and a 15-year-old swimmer. Prior to 1920, three New Zealanders won medals competing for Australasian teams in 1908 and 1912. Since the advent of international jet air travel in the 1950s, and the greater number of Olympic sports, the size of New Zealand Olympic teams has increased substantially.

New Zealand, as with other Southern Hemisphere countries, has had the disadvantage of needing to peak to compete in summer sports which are held during their winter months. Only three Olympics have ever been held in the Southern Hemisphere, the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

New Zealand's participation in the 1976 Games was controversial, and led to a boycott of the Games by most African countries, who protested against sporting contacts between the All Blacks and apartheid South Africa.

New Zealand at the Winter Games

New Zealand has had a much smaller participation in the Winter Olympics, owing to its oceanic climate and Southern Hemisphere location requiring athletes to peak in the middle of the New Zealand summer. The nation did not assemble their first Winter Olympic team until 1952. In 1988 the team included bobsleighers; the first entry in a winter sport other than alpine skiing.

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.

In 2018, Zoi Sadowski-Synnott won New Zealand's second Winter Olympic medal in the inaugural big air snowboarding competition in Pyeongchang, South Korea, winning bronze. Later in the same day, 16 year old Nico Porteous won New Zealand's third Winter Olympic medal in the men's ski halfpipe, also taking bronze.

Four years later in 2022, Zoi Sadowski-Synnott also won New Zealand's first ever Winter Olympics gold medal, in the women's slopestyle. Nico Porteous later won New Zealand’s second ever Winter Olympics gold medal, again in the men’s ski half pipe.

Participation

Timeline of participation

DateTeam
1900–1904Flag of Australia.svg  Australia  (AUS)
1908–1912Flag of Australasian team for Olympic games.svg  Australasia  (ANZ)
1920–Flag of Australia.svg  Australia  (AUS)Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand  (NZL)

Medal tables

Summary by sport

Sailing

GamesNo. SailorsEventsGoldSilverBronzeTotalRanking
1896 Scheduled but event wasn't held
1900 00/130000
1904 Not Scheduled
1908 00/40000
1912 00/40000
1916 Games Cancelled
1920 00/140000
1924 00/30000
1928 00/30000
1932 00/40000
1936 00/40000
1940 Games Cancelled
1944 Games Cancelled
1948 00/50000
1952 00/50000
1956 52/510014
1960 32/50000
1964 32/510013
1968 32/50000
1972 94/60000
1976 84/60000
1980 00/60000
1984 116/720132
1988 137/811133
1992 1710/1012144
1996 1610/10010112
2000 1811/11002212
2004 128/110000
2008 97/1110016
2012 159/1011025
2016 127/1012144
2020 106/10010111=
Total 986239

See also

Related Research Articles

Annelise Coberger is a New Zealand former alpine skier. Born in Christchurch, she 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 in 1992. For this success, at the annual Halberg Awards she was awarded the title of New Zealand Sportsman of the Year. Coberger also competed at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer but did not finish her first run of the slalom. Coberger remained the only Winter Olympic medalist from New Zealand for 26 years until Zoi Sadowski-Synnott won bronze in the women's big air at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

Sarah Jane Spidy Murphy is a New Zealand biathlete. She represented New Zealand at the 2010 Winter Olympics. She was the first Kiwi Olympic biathlete.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lonsdale Cup (NZOC)</span>

The Lonsdale Cup is awarded annually by the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) to a New Zealand athlete who has demonstrated the most outstanding contribution to an Olympic or Commonwealth sport during the previous year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Zealand at the 2014 Commonwealth Games</span> Sporting event delegation

New Zealand competed at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, from 23 July to 3 August 2014. It was the nation's 20th appearance at the Commonwealth Games, having competed at every Games since their inception in 1930. The New Zealand Olympic Committee registered the complete team on 8 July 2014, with 239 athletes competing at the Games across all 17 sports. The team was reduced to 238 prior to the opening ceremony, after judoka Patti Grogan withdrew due to an unspecified health issue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Zealand at the 2016 Summer Olympics</span> Sporting event delegation

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.

Terina Lily Te Tamaki is a New Zealand rugby union player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Zealand at the 2020 Summer Olympics</span> New Zealand at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Zealand at the 2018 Winter Olympics</span> Sporting event delegation

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zoi Sadowski-Synnott</span> New Zealand snowboarder (born 2001)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nico Porteous</span> New Zealand freestyle skier

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.

Tess Coady is an Australian snowboarder from Melbourne who won bronze in the slopestyle event at the 2022 Winter Olympics. She also won a bronze medal in slopestyle at the 2021 FIS Snowboard World Championships, and a bronze medal in big air at the 2023 world championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alice Robinson</span> New Zealand skier

Alice Robinson is a New Zealand World Cup alpine ski racer. At age sixteen, she competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics, in giant slalom and slalom. She represented New Zealand in the giant slalom event at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Zealand at the 2022 Winter Olympics</span> Sporting event delegation

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).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Winter Olympics medal table</span> List of medals won by Olympic delegations

The 2022 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXIV Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event held in Beijing, China, from 4 to 20 February. A total of 2,871 athletes from 91 nations participated in 109 events in seven sports across 15 disciplines.

The women's big air competition in snowboarding at the 2022 Winter Olympics was held on 14 February (qualification) and 15 February (final), at the Big Air Shougang in Beijing. Anna Gasser of Austria won the event, successfully defending her 2018 title. Zoi Sadowski-Synnott of New Zealand won the silver medal, and Kokomo Murase of Japan bronze, her first Olympic medal.

The women's slopestyle competition in snowboarding at the 2022 Winter Olympics was held on 5 February (qualification) and 6 February (final), at the Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou.

The men's halfpipe competition in freestyle skiing at the 2022 Winter Olympics was held on 17 February (qualification) and 19 February (final), at the Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou. The podium consisted of all the medalists in the same event in 2018, but in a different order. Nico Porteous of New Zealand, the 2018 bronze medalist, won the event, bringing to New Zealand the second ever winter Olympic gold medal. David Wise of the United States, the champion in both previous events, won the silver medal, and Alex Ferreira, also of the United States, the 2018 silver medalist, this time won bronze.

References

  1. The New Zealand Olympic Committee records all athletes chosen for the Olympics, numbered sequentially. Harry Kerr is identified as "New Zealand Olympian: 1".
  2. New Zealand Olympic Committee: Harry Kerr
  3. 1 2 3 Leggat, David (11 June 2009). "21 Kiwi Olympians fail to register". The New Zealand Herald . Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  4. "New Zealand Olympic Committee: 1111 Olympians Honoured this Week". Archived from the original on 2010-04-12. Retrieved 2009-09-14.