Olympic heroes given very Kiwi welcome
‘‘It’s unbelievable that people have turned up to show their support on a brisk Auckland morning and it really humbles us.’’ Silver medallist Eddie Dawkins
The New Zealand Olympic team was given a rapturous welcome home after returning from its feats in Rio at The Cloud on Auckland’s waterfront yesterday morning.
About 170 of the 201-strong team attended the event after arriving in the country bleary-eyed earlier in the morning.
They were greeted by a crowd of about 800, with school kids given the morning off to meet their heroes and office workers possibly taking extra long coffee breaks to come along.
It was all over in just over an hour and done in a way perhaps only New Zealanders would want it.
It started with a montage of New Zealand’s most memorable moments from the Games, with the biggest cheers going up for Lisa Carrington, Valerie Adams and Eliza Mccartney. Then the athletes walked onto stage, greeted by a deafening roar.
Then it was a couple of speeches, a few plugs for the sponsor and that was if for the formalities.
But afterwards, it was what this event was all about; the general public being able to get up close and personal with the athletes.
You could never see this happening with the USA or British Olympic teams, but it seemed second nature for New Zealand’s medallists to hang out and chat with the public.
‘‘It’s pretty awesome to get back and see everyone,’’ cycling’s team sprint silver medallist Eddie Dawkins said.
‘‘When we was standing at the back [of the stage], we could hear the people screaming.
‘‘It’s unbelievable that people have turned up to show their support on a brisk Auckland morning and it really humbles us.
‘‘We ride on our own a lot of the time and we’re away from the spotlight and it’s cool to come back and see people really appreciating what we’ve done and it shows that all the hard work wasn’t for nothing.’’
Most of the non-medallists were quietly escorted out of the building to waiting buses, possibly to save any embarrassing situations where kids say to them ‘who are you?’. ‘What did you do?’ And ‘why haven’t you got a medal?’.
But for the rest it was chance to get an understanding of how their achievements had touched the New Zealand public.
Pairs rowing gold medallist Hamish Bond said seeing the reaction from people made all the pain worthwhile.
‘‘It’s been really cool. Getting off the plane this morning I was pretty jaded, I didn’t sleep well and I haven’t slept well since our race to be honest,’’ Bond said.
‘‘But this morning I’ve been feeding off the energy of everyone else.
‘‘The kids have been so excited and at the end of the day I rode to know that I’m the best, to know I’m the Olympic champion.
‘‘But the medal almost means more to other people. Coming down here with a medal is a representation of what we’ve achieved.
‘‘It’s something that’s easy for us to do, to give a little back having been given so much over the last few years.’’
Some medallists were signing autographs at designated stations and at the table where Mahe Drysdale and Carrington were sitting, there must have been 300 people patiently waiting for their moment with them.
Others, like slalom canoeist Luuka Jones, just mingled around the room.
After the high of getting an Olympic medal and receiving this welcome, she said it would be a big change to get back to normal life.
‘‘I think it’s going to be pretty cool just to chill out,’’ Jones said.
‘‘It’s been a long and busy season and we’ve been away a lot, so just spending time with my family and friends, hanging out at the beach and doing other activities will be really cool.’’
Jones let come children try on her silver medal, a moment they’re likely to never forget.
Because that was what this event was about; the athletes getting the homecoming welcome they deserved, the New Zealand public getting a chance to meet them.
But most importantly, this was an opportunity to inspire the next generation of New Zealand Olympic athletes.