Let Games begin
The Commonwealth Games begin on the Gold Coast next week, and today in Sport we have a two-page guide to our Kiwi medal hopefuls. Here’s to hearing plenty of God Defend New Zealand.
New Zealand’s unquenchable thirst for sporting success, and love of a bandwagon, should ensure attention in the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games quickly sweeps the country.
The Commonwealth Games will never sit on the same podium as the Olympics, or even be the pinnacle for all sports, but from a New Zealand perspective, success on a large scale is always guaranteed.
In much the same way fans and overnight experts spring from every watercooler when the Warriors get on a roll, or Team New Zealand claims the America’s Cup, the steady flow of medals evokes similar concentrated interest.
We are a nation that loves reveling in the good times.
Four years ago in Glasgow, New Zealand’s flag flew proudly with a haul of 45 medals, including 14 golds, representing the third best result behind the Auckland Games in 1950 (54 medals) and 1990 (58).
For comparison’s sake, the Rio Olympics netted New Zealand 18 medals, which included four golds.
Team officials are reluctant to predict a firm medal figure from these Games but you only have to recall recent euphoria surrounding the two Winter Olympics bronze medals to appreciate the sense of national pride expected to build over 11 jam-packed days in Australia.
With 150 non-carded, self-funded, Kiwi athletes competing across 11 sports, charting success is not an exact science. Southland shooter Sally Johnston, gold medalist in Glasgow, is just one dipping into her pocket to the tune of $45,000.
There’s also the fact sports such as judo, in which New Zealand won five medals at Glasgow, are not included this time around.
“There’s no real specific target and the tracking is a lot less detailed at Commonwealth Games than the Olympics,” New Zealand chef de mission Rob Waddell said. “I think it would be a fantastic result if we could win somewhere around 35 medals. That’s still a pretty big number if you look historically over how New Zealand has gone at the Games.” Athletics stars Tom Walsh and Eliza McCartney headline New Zealand’s gold medal contenders but intrigue stretches to Hamish Bond, double Olympic rowing champion, and his switch to the road cycling time trial.
From bowls to cycling, boxing, squash, mountain biking and sevens, the black uniform will feature heavily in medal presentations.
“To people watching back home, seeing New Zealanders on the dais with the national anthem playing is a great thing. The special part of Comm Games is we do win a lot of medals. That’s positive for sport and I know our athletes enjoy being part of it.”
These Games will be something of a home-away-from-home for the 251 athletes, the largest ever New Zealand contingent, competing in 18 sports. Free-to-air coverage broadens access and creates valuable exposure for sports that struggle for profile. And on the ground, New Zealand will enjoy support second only to the host nation. “There’s around 2000 people we estimate coming over to support from New Zealand and then you’ve also got some 50,000 who live over there on the Gold Coast, so there’s a lot of Kiwis around who weren’t there in Glasgow. “It’s a common theme for a lot of our athletes that they’re in the zone focusing on doing the best they can but does it count for something?
Well, home town advantage, given our proximity it would be nice to think there is an opportunity there for our athletes.” Given the $2 billion price tag, questions around the long-term sustainability of the Commonwealth Games continue to linger. But, for those athletes attending, they live in the moment; one many have long sacrificed to embrace. “Sustainability is a big question for me to answer because the investment that goes in is large and relative to how well each host does. There have been mixed experiences with the Olympics and Commonwealth Games.
“As far as the Commonwealth Games go, it’s a great thing for New Zealand to be part of. The competition standard is high and also for a lot of our sports that have high participation like squash, bowls, netball, this is a really big pinnacle event that has a big chance for New Zealand and inspires kids. “Even for those sports that this might not be the pinnacle, there’s real value in coping with this multi-sport environment.”