Olympics top five: Kiwi young guns set their sights on Rio

Yet to turn 20, they can make their names in Rio. Take a look at our rising stars in black.

Eliza McCartney - athletics

The Auckland teenager arrived with hurricane force last summer. Now, just a few months short of her 20th birthday, Eliza McCartney will line up in Rio as the world’s seventh-ranked woman pole vaulter of 2016.

She soared over 4.80m in March to extend her national record, soon after setting a world junior mark of 4.64m. Her best is 13cm behind American Sandi Morris’ worldleading vault for 2016.

Studying to be a doctor, she is aiming high in Rio, after a fifth at the world indoors in March and third in the Diamond League meet in London last weekend. ‘‘I do feel like I don’t have a lot of pressure, but I also don’t want to feel like I’ve left something on the field. If do get into the final, there’s an opportunity there for any place, or even a medal,‘‘ she said.

Rieko Ioane - rugby sevens

All eyes will be on Sonny Bill Williams but New Zealand’s most lethal strike weapon will be lurking out wider. At 17, Rieko Ioane announced himself as a sevens star with a two-try haul against England in New Zealand’s Wellington title last year, and kicked on to show he was no onehit wonder.

Injuries, patchy form and the surprise axings of Liam Messam and Kurt Baker have all cast doubt on the side’s gold medal prospects. With his speed, strength and power, the 1.89m, 102kg Ioane is the gamebreaker every team needs.

He will have big brother keeping an eye on him, too, having followed Akira’s sprigmarks into the sevens team and the Blues in Super Rugby.Said Akira when the brothers were confirmed in the squad: ‘‘Being named is pretty big and it’s probably the only Olympics we’re ever going to go to so may as well live it up but definitely proud to be doing it alongside Rieko.’’

Courtney McGregor - gymnastics

She might be the junior member of the 199-strong Olympic team but Courtney McGregor feels like a veteran. The Christchurch, 17-year-old started gymnastics when she was six but only now feels ready for the biggest stage.

‘‘It took me a while... I’m a late bloomer,’’ McGregor said, as New Zealand send an Olympic gymnastics contingent for the first time since 2000. Patience has been McGregor’s friend after a knee injury robbed her of a 2014 Commonwealth Games appearance. She was 17th in the vault at the 2015 world championships, won bronze at the Pacific Rim champs this year and is seen to have the potential to make the vault final in Rio. She’ll contest vault, uneven bars, beam and floor. ‘‘We train a lot of pressure sets and things like that so we are ready for the one routine we get to show.’’

Dylan Schmidt - gymnastics

The Auckland-based student, 19, has tested out the Rio venue and liked what he saw. Dylan Schmidt bounced and somersaulted his way to a trampoline berth with a second at the Rio test event in April, and will be the first New Zealander to contest that discipline. Schmidt has competed strongly at world events and is an outside medal hope. He won gold at the Youth Olympics in 2014, and that year was 15th in his first open world championships. Last year he improved to ninth at the world champs. ’’Definitely the top eight is what I’m aiming for. I’ll definitely be pushing the other guys. If I make the finals, anything can happen,’’ Schmidt said.

Elizabeth Cui - diving

As others spend their 19th birthday wondering who’s buying their next drink, Elizabeth Cui will be perched on the end of the 3m springboard. The solitary diver in the team, her preliminary competition is on her 19th birthday, August 12. She’s New Zealand’s first Olympic diver in 24 years. Cui left Henderson High School last year then began a scholarship at Louisiana State University. She claimed an Olympics spot at the Rio World Cup and Olympic test event in February, when she was ahead of the Commonwealth champion.

‘‘Knowing that all my bruises and scars - both mentally and physically - have brought me to the position I am in today makes everything so worth it,’’ Cui said of her selection. ‘‘Since I was eight all I’ve known is diving. I eat, breathe, and live diving. Ten years of dedicating my life to this sport has never felt more satisfying.’’