New Zealand at the
Olympics
IOC codeNZL
NOCNew Zealand Olympic Committee
Websitewww.olympic.org.nz
Medals
Ranked 26th
Gold
55
Silver
35
Bronze
53
Total
143
Summer appearances
Winter appearances
Other related appearances
 Australasia (1908–1912)
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.

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
1900–1904 Australia (AUS)
1908–1912 Australasia (ANZ)
1920– Australia (AUS) New Zealand (NZL)

Medal tables

Summary by sport

Sailing

Games No. Sailors EventsGoldSilverBronze Total Ranking
1896Scheduled but event wasn't held
190000/130000
1904Not Scheduled
190800/40000
191200/40000
1916Games Cancelled
192000/140000
192400/30000
192800/30000
193200/40000
193600/40000
1940Games Cancelled
1944Games Cancelled
194800/50000
195200/50000
195652/510014
196032/50000
196432/510013
196832/50000
197294/60000
197684/60000
198000/60000
1984116/720132
1988137/811133
19921710/1012144
19961610/10010112
20001811/11002212
2004128/110000
200897/1110016
2012159/1011025
2016127/1012144
2020106/10010111=
Total986239

See also

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.
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