New Zealand at the
1968 Summer Olympics
Flag of New Zealand.svg
IOC codeNZL
NOCNew Zealand Olympic and British Commonwealth Games Association
Websitewww.olympic.org.nz
in Mexico City
Competitors52 (47 men, 5 women) in 8 sports
Flag bearerDon Oliver (weightlifting)
Officials16
Medals
Ranked 27th
Gold
1
Silver
0
Bronze
2
Total
3
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
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
Gold medal icon.svg
Silver medal icon.svg
Bronze medal icon.svg
 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
Gold medal icon.svg
Silver medal icon.svg
Bronze medal icon.svg
 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 — 14:39.8 10
Men's 10,000 m — 30:17.2 12
Evan Maguire Men's 10,000 m — DNF
Dave McKenzie Men's marathon — 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 — 2:23:45 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Peter Welsh Men's 3000 m steeplechase 9:13.8 6 — 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 coxed 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 1st place, gold medalist(s)
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 — 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

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 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
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 — did not advance
Tui Shipston Women's 200 m individual medley 2:35.5 9 — did not advance
Women's 400 m individual medley 5:33.7 =7 Q — 5:34.6 7
Women's 800 m freestyle 10:28.0 19 — 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 — 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 — did not advance
Glenda Stirling
Pru Chapman
Sandra Whittleston
Tui Shipston 		Women's 4 × 100 m medley relay 4:49.0 11 — 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

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. ^ a b "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. ^ a b c d e f g h "Olympic team ready to answer vital questions". The Press. Vol. 108, no. 31808. 12 October 1968. p. 15. Retrieved 12 August 2022.

External links

National Olympic Committees at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico
1968 New Zealand Olympic team
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