‘Silver squad’ agonisingly close to striking gold reward
Twenty-five pieces of silver weighs down New Zealand baggage on the way out of Rio.
That’s 12kg in total, a bounty of precious metal which is comfortably New Zealand’s heaviest haul of silver – boosted by the dozen medals handed out to the women’s sevens team.
New Zealand’s previous best Olympic silver medal tally was four in Barcelona in 1992. The self-titled ‘Silver Squad’ more than doubled that record as they finished runner-up in nine events in Rio.
If the medal table was judged on silvers they would have finished ninth instead of 19th, ahead of Japan, the Netherlands and host nation Brazil. Assessing a plethora of second placings is a fraught business.
First and foremost it’s a prized Olympic medal worthy of celebration, particularly for the Kiwi bolters like shooter Natalie Rooney and paddler Luuka Jones who delighted a nation with their unexpected visits to the dais.
But there’s also this, from track cyclist Eddie Dawkins in May when asked about his Olympic expectations.
‘‘No-one goes there to win silver; if you win silver you lose gold.’’
There were other agonisingly narrow margins. Valerie Adams missed being a triple Olympic champion by 21cm while sailors Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie rued a small misjudgment for their second disqualification which badly hurt their bid for back-to-back 470 titles.
WOMEN’S RUGBY SEVENS
Seven points.
Australia
Margin:
It was close in the final but Australia were the better team. The pretournament favourites benefited from a controversial try decision, but sealed the gold medal in clinical fashion before a late New Zealand rally.
Winner:
NATALIE ROONEY, WOMEN’S TRAP SHOOTING
Margin: One target. Winner: Catherine Skinner
No New Zealand shooting medal since 1968 shows how hard it is to climb the dais. Rooney did Timaru and her Australia’s country proud, missing four targets to her Aussie opponent’s three in the shoot-off for gold. ‘‘Sadly the nerves got a little bit too much and I started rushing things, but I’m still really happy with the way I shot,’’ she said.
LUUKA JONES, WOMEN’S CANOE SLALOM
Margin: 3.17sec. Maialen Chourraut
Another feel-good medal story as Jones beamed proudly on the dais at her third Olympics, after meticulous preparation at the Games venue. She scythed through the white water and benefited from time faults to her Australian rival to hit the lead, before Chourraut went faster. Winner: Spain’s
ETHAN MITCHELL, SAM WEBSTER, EDDIE DAWKINS, MEN’S CYCLING TEAM SPRINT
Margin: 0.102sec. Winner: Great Britain’s Philip Hindes, Jason Kenny and Callum Skinner
The Kiwi trio couldn’t have done much more as they rode the three fastest times of their lives. The Britons just went marginally quicker, carried by the mighty Jason Kenny on the way to domination at the velodrome with three golds.
REBECCA SCOWN AND GENEVIEVE BEHRENT, WOMEN’S ROWING PAIR
Margin: 1.24sec. Winner: Great Britain’s Helen Glover and Heather Stanning
The Britons hadn’t lost a race since their 2012 Olympic title so this was nearly a genuine boilover as the Kiwi pair closed strongly within a halflength in a mighty final performance.
VALERIE ADAMS, WOMEN’S SHOT PUT
Margin: 21cm. Winner: United States’ Michelle Carter
After an injury-plagued two years Adams threw a season-best of 20.42m and looked in control, till Carter’s very last throw. The American unleashed 20.63m and Adams couldn’t match it with her final effort.
JO ALEH AND POLLY POWRIE, WOMEN’S SAILING 470
Margin: 10 points. Winner: Great Britain’s Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark
The letters DQ will haunt the London gold medallists for some time.
Two disqualifications sank their title defence after they were able to drop the first one, which made their silver medal performance all the more impressive.
ALEX MALONEY AND MOLLY MEECH, WOMEN’S SAILING 49erfx
Margin: 2sec. Winner: Brazil’s Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze
If ever a photo finish was required in sailing, it was here. Maloney and Meech were considered outside medal hopes and went within touching distance of a shock gold in a thrilling finish to the medal race.
LYDIA KO, WOMEN’S GOLF
Margin: Five shots. Inbee Park.
Park was always one of Ko’s nearest challengers and the Kiwi was within striking distance two shots back starting the final round.
But some early putting problems returned to bite Ko who was still ecstatic with silver.
Winner:
Korea’s