Sporting event delegation
New Zealand Olympic medallists's 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.
Medallists
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.
Pre-NZOC medals
Youngest medallists
The following table lists all Olympic medals won by New Zealanders 20 years or younger.[3][4]
Youngest medallists
| 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 |
|
|
| Zoi Sadowski-Synnott |
20 years, 337 days |
6 March 2001 |
6 February 2022 |
|
Youngest female gold medallist
|
| Zoi Sadowski-Synnott |
20 years, 346 days |
6 March 2001 |
15 February 2022 |
|
Youngest triple medallist
|
Oldest medallists
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
|
| 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
|
|
|
Most successful Olympians
New Zealanders who have won two or more gold medals, or three or more medals total:
Australasia (1908–1912)