The Covid-19 coronavirus played havoc with the Tokyo Olympic Games that were scheduled to begin in July 2020. By January 2020 it became evident that a lethal coronavirus disease was spreading worldwide, with devastating effects. Once Covid-19, as it became known, began spreading, countries took a variety of measures to contain it. Some eventually imposed “lockdowns”, which resulted in many public places, including schools and sporting facilities, shutting and people largely isolating. New Zealand entered its first lockdown from March 26-May 27 2020.
0n March 24 2020, 122 days before the planned start of the Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee, the Tokyo Organising Committee and Japan Prime Minister Abe released a joint statement announcing that the 2020 Summer Olympic Games and Paralympics would be rescheduled to a date “beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021”. A week later it was announced that the new dates for the Olympic Games (which retained the branding of Tokyo 2020) were to be July 23-August 8 2021. Olympic chiefs stressed this was the latest the Tokyo Olympic Games could proceed and that if Covid-19 ruled out those dates, the Games would be cancelled.
The Games eventually proceeded as rescheduled, but it was a vastly different looking Olympic Games. Masks were compulsory for competitors and officials, though not during actual competition for the athletes. There were virtually no spectators, athletes and teams moved in “bubbles”, and hand sanitiser and daily saliva testing for Covid became de rigeur.
Many people, including some avid sports lovers, felt the Olympics should be cancelled, that athletes and others involved in the Olympic Games were placing their health, perhaps their lives, at risk for what was after all still “only” a sports event.
The Japanese and the IOC were determined to proceed and though there were some withdrawals, there was still an extremely high turnout of athletes in Tokyo. The extra year between Olympic Games became a bridge too far for some athletes who’d hoped to be able to stretch their careers to 2020 for one last crack at the Olympic Games. One prominent New Zealand example was Olympic single sculls double gold medallist Mahe Drysdale. He’d have been 41 in 2020. The extra year was just too much for him. The same applied to other experienced athletes from all around the world.
The New Zealand Olympic Committee went to extreme lengths in its Games planning in 2021, putting in place protocols to keep its athletes safe, but still with the best preparation possible for a top performance. Obtaining special dispensation for the team to travel and return to pre-booked quarantine facilities was a hurdle organisers had to overcome. The various special procedures were challenging for athletes already keyed up to produce the performance of a lifetime, but team members understood the thinking behind the Covid-19 strategies and responded positively.
The incidence of any illness – let alone Covid-19 – was at an all-time low and this paid dividends for the team. While New Zealand’s athletes couldn’t travel and compete internationally before the Games, for much of the pre-Olympic period they were able to keep training and that paid off.
Tokyo introduced karate, sport climbing, surfing and skateboarding to the Olympics, while baseball and softball returned for the first time since 2008. In addition, 15 new events were added within existing sports, including 3x3 basketball, freestyle BMX and the return of madison cycling. Mixed events were added to sports, including table tennis, archery, judo, shooting, triathlon, athletics and swimming, and proved popular.
New Zealand’s medal haul of 20 medals, 7 of them gold, was evidence of how successful the planning was. 60% of the 222-strong New Zealand team recorded top 8 finishes, a particularly satisfying result.
Canoe sprint specialist Lisa Carrington, attending her third Olympic Games, was the star of the New Zealand team, winning 3 gold medals, including the K 200 for the third consecutive time. She was the second New Zealander after another canoeist, Ian Ferguson, to win 3 golds at a single Olympic Games.
There were some wonderful stories among the New Zealand medallists. Shot putters Val Adams and Tom Walsh grabbed bronze medals. It was Adams’ 4th Olympic medal (2 gold) and Walsh’s 2nd. The two New Zealand sevens teams both excelled, the New Zealand women winning a gold medal that captivated hundreds of thousands of television viewers back home, and the men silver.
Among the New Zealand medallists the most heartwarming story may have been the gold medal won by single sculler Emma Twigg, who was at her 4th Olympic Games and had twice previously finished in that most unwelcome of positions – 4th. Also, at the rowing, the men’s 8 secured gold for the first time in 49 years and their feat was nearly matched by the women’s 8, who finished second.
The Olympic Games’ first openly transgender athlete, Laurel Hubbard, represented New Zealand, and in the face of intense global debate thanked Kiwis for supporting her.
New Zealand competed in 22 sports and won medals in 11, including Dylan Schmidt, our first Olympic gymnastics medallist - trampolining fell under the gymnastics banner.
In the end, the quality of performance produced by the world’s greatest athletes moved the spotlight off Covid-19 and on to sport. New Zealand certainly played its part – the 20 medals the team won placed us 13th among the 86 teams that won medals.
Hamish Bond originally named flagbearer with Sarah Hirini, withdrew due to rowing schedule change; replaced by David Nyika.
All three later medalled: Bond (rowing gold), Hirini (rugby sevens gold), Nyika (boxing bronze).
Competed in 12 races over 6 days, winning:
Gold in K1 200 (3rd consecutive)
Gold in K1 500 and K2 500 (with Caitlin Regal)
4th in K4 500
Became NZ’s most decorated Olympian with 6 medals (5 gold, 1 bronze).
Women: Won gold, avenged Rio loss. Beat Fiji in semi (22–17 ET), France in final (26–12). Scored most tries (28), avg. 28.6 points/game.
Men: Won silver, lost to Fiji 27–12 in final. Marked improvement from previous Olympics.
Men’s 8 (incl. Hamish Bond): Won gold.
Emma Twigg: Won gold in women’s single sculls (4th Olympics).
Women’s 8: Won silver, just behind Canada.
Prendergast & Gowler: Won gold in women’s pair.
Donoghue & Osborne: Silver in women’s double sculls.
Daniell & Venus: Won bronze in doubles — first NZ tennis medal since 1912.
David Nyika: Won bronze, despite opponent’s biting attempt.
Only NZ boxer medalling since Tua (1992).
Men’s team: Reached quarterfinals for first time, lost to Japan on penalties.
Lydia Ko: Won bronze, adding to her 2016 silver.
Ellesse Andrews: Silver in keirin, strong showing in sprint.
Men’s pursuit: Missed medal despite world-record time.
Campbell Stewart: Silver in omnium after comeback in points race.
Tuke & Burling: Won silver in 49er (3rd Olympic medal).
Other NZ sailors placed close but didn’t medal.
Dylan Schmidt: Won bronze, NZ’s first in trampoline.
Lewis Clareburt: Finalist in 200m (8th) and 400m IM (7th).
Erika Fairweather (17): Finalist in 400m (8th), semi-finalist in 200m. Set PB in heats.
Anton Down-Jenkins: 8th in men’s 3m springboard — best NZ male diving result.
David Liti: 5th in super-heavyweight — best NZ Olympic finish in the category.
Hayden Wilde: Bronze, joined Hamish Carter and Bevan Docherty as NZ triathlon medallists.
Nick Willis: 5-time Olympian, reached 1500m semi-final.
Tom Walsh: Bronze in shot put (same as 2016), overcame dramatic qualifying.
Maddi Wesche: PB and 6th in shot put, promising future.
Lisa Carrington: Won Halberg Supreme Award, Sportswoman of the Year & Decade, and Lonsdale Cup.
Emma Twigg: Won Halberg Favourite Sporting Moment.
Erika Fairweather: Won Emerging Talent Award.
Coach Gordon Walker: Halberg Coach of the Year.
Subscribe to get the latest updates on the NZ Team.
