Nigel Avery: New Zealand Chef de Mission says about 20 percent of New Zealand Olympians in Paris have won a medal

The Paris Olympics is coming to a close.

Dame Lisa Carrington and Finn Butcher are leading out Kiwi athletes as the flagbearers for the closing ceremony, getting underway now.

New Zealand now has 20 medals, including ten gold after a Bronze for Ally Wollaston and another Gold for Ellesse Andrews in the velodrome overnight.

New Zealand Chef de Mission Nigel Avery told Ryan Bridge it's one of our best Olympic campaigns ever.

“45 of our team will walk around with a piece of tin around their neck to get back to New Zealand. That’s huge — that’s about 20 percent of our total competing body, and so, it’s awesome.”

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Is New Zealand's chieft emission and this has officially been
our best Olympics in terms of medals, in terms of
gold medals and overall medals we drew with Tokyo. We've
won ten gold, beating the previous record of eight in
LA in nineteen eighty four. And the latest gold came
from Elise Andrews and the women's sprint final overnight. Who's

(00:21):
second in these games? Nigel Avery's with us this morning
from the New Zealand camp. Congratulations, it's a great medal haul.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
It is clearly yes, So twenty medals and teen gold,
it's it really is amazing. But I guess you know,
beyond that is the amazing amount of forceifts, top eights,
PBS records and stuff.

Speaker 3 (00:41):
So it just super proud of the team.

Speaker 1 (00:44):
Why do you think we've got so many? Why are
those PBS being hit? Are we putting more money into sport?

Speaker 3 (00:49):
Is it?

Speaker 1 (00:50):
Are we more professional? What do you put it down to?

Speaker 2 (00:54):
Well, it probably comes down to a number of factors, right,
because you know, we're just we're just a little piece
at the end to try to sort of polish the diamond,
may get that little incremental gain and what goes on
between us and three years ago. There's a lot of
hard work, the national board, organizations, you know, families, high
performance sport in New Zealand.

Speaker 3 (01:12):
There's a lot of factors that go into it.

Speaker 2 (01:14):
But I think the culture we've developed here is I hope,
really enabling people to want to aspire to really good things.
And then clearly we've seen some some fantastic things in
the last sixteen days or so.

Speaker 1 (01:26):
Interesting looking at the medals and who's winning them. By
my count, fifteen of the twenty have been won by women,
either teams or individuals.

Speaker 3 (01:37):
Why is that?

Speaker 1 (01:38):
What's wrong with our men?

Speaker 2 (01:42):
There's nothing wrong to me, and it's just a woman
at see time to shine and we're super proud and
they're just done amazingly well.

Speaker 3 (01:48):
And it's a bit of it is a little bit
of a joke at the moment, but we're not to
invest in male sports.

Speaker 2 (01:54):
Look, I think that's just you know, sometimes you know
the stars in alignment and clearly for them they are,
but you know, just absolutely be just smacking it.

Speaker 3 (02:03):
That's just so awesome to see. It's really amazing.

Speaker 2 (02:05):
And look, it's you know, forty five of our team
will walk around with a piece of turn around the
neck to get back to New Zealand.

Speaker 3 (02:12):
That's huge.

Speaker 2 (02:12):
It's about twenty percent of our total competing body.

Speaker 3 (02:16):
And so it's just it's awesome, it's just so so good.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
That's brilliant. I have a theory that because we are
more progressive as a country than perhaps other nations, that
we put, you know, greater emphasis on women's sport, therefore
we're better at it.

Speaker 2 (02:32):
Look, I think there's definitely that to be said, Yeah,
for sure, and then clearly it has been an effort
to there and and lot. You know, we just hope
that all our sports speak of actors barometers for getting
everybody in New Zealand active, because that's what we all want,
you for. A healthier population is as more productive as
less been on the health system. And so if we
can inspire or the next generation or anybody's even to

(02:54):
get off the couch do in a club.

Speaker 3 (02:56):
Then that's going to be good for for us as
a country.

Speaker 2 (02:58):
But you're right, I mean, here we are focusing on
on women in sport and it's it's so good to see.

Speaker 1 (03:04):
It's brilliant. Hey, some bug bears from the Olympics, not
necessarily from our team, but from other athletes, should we
have or should they have chosen the river send? Do
you think for swimming events and and triathlons.

Speaker 2 (03:18):
Look, look, I don't know that whole that whole decision
would have been would have been made years ago. And
so I guess they had a plan to try and
make it swimmable, and I guess you could say that
there was largely they got to that plan.

Speaker 3 (03:31):
So yeah, I guess we just got to go with
the flow and and and and you know, whatever were
gid in front of us to the best we can
with it. And so that's all we're doing with everything
that's any challenge that's going front.

Speaker 1 (03:47):
Even if it's an e cohole life flow. What about that?
There were the beds in the athletes village, which I
know every Olympics people complain about, but the vegan food
was another one. You know, when we're looking ahead to
la is there a message from athletes to the Olympics
when it comes to the quality of their experience? You know,

(04:09):
they trained for fourth on this case, three but four
years for this big moment, and some of them were
you know, there was no aircorn in the rooms, all
those kinds of things.

Speaker 3 (04:21):
Yeah, Look, I.

Speaker 2 (04:22):
Think so we've had a review meeting with the IOC
on some of the things, and I guess there's a
lot of a lot of stuff was brought up.

Speaker 3 (04:28):
By different countries. There was the two forums that they
were workshops who were went to.

Speaker 2 (04:31):
We're in one of them, and they're really thankful that
we have the opportunity to feedback. But I guess for
our point of view, fundamentals you know, betting the food
and transport, if you get the fundamentals rights, then that's
going to be a happy place.

Speaker 3 (04:44):
And so I think, you know, they get that message.
But I think the IOC.

Speaker 2 (04:48):
They are largely handstrung by what Agreem has been from
place with the Rising Committee, and so I was obviously
there's a lot of work now of LA twenty eight
with thirty two just to make sure all that effort
experiences this top of mind, because that is the goal
as well. But look, each of the size that are
enormous and their complexity is just extraordinary. So they just

(05:09):
things that just are not going to go to plan,
and so we just got to live with me to
a larger steat, but at the.

Speaker 3 (05:14):
Same time push back quite hard.

Speaker 2 (05:17):
In it early to make sure that we are doing
the right thing for the athletes.

Speaker 1 (05:20):
Nigel, congratulations to your team, a fantastic result. We're all proud.

Speaker 3 (05:25):
Thank you very much. I appreciate your support.

Speaker 1 (05:29):
That is Nigel Avery our Shift a mission for.

Speaker 2 (05:31):
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Speaker 1 (05:35):
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