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Boxer David Nyika may have just turned 20, but he already knows exactly where he must draw his strength from.

Its source is not only in the gym; for Nyika, its about knowing who he is, being his own man, and knowing just what he has to do to achieve his aspirations.

The 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medallist, now aiming for Olympic gold in Rio, knows his strength is not restricted to the explosive physics of arms and legs.  Says the 1.94m tall Hamilton heavyweight:  It comes from your whole body from your feet to your mind.

You say in boxing, Train hard, fight easy. So when you step into the ring for a fight, theres nothing to worry about; the hard works behind you. You need confidence in the goal ahead; a strong man leaves no room for doubt.

Like the maunga (mountains) which have stood resilient and uncompromising, the backbone of our country for millennia, New Zealands Olympic athletes have shown myriad qualities of strength in reaching their goals over more than a century.

Ted Morgan, our first and only golden boxer, overcame challenging circumstance and agonising pain just to enter the ring in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics. He had lost condition and packed on weight on the long boat voyage from New Zealand, so was put into a heavier Olympic division. The week before competing, he suffered an ugly knuckle injury. And yet the young Wellington plumber rose above - combining mental strength with superior punching power - to win gold.

Another Wellington Olympian, Trevor Manning, displayed incredible fortitude in the 1976 Montreal Olympic hockey final. With 11 minutes to go, and New Zealand leading Australia 1-0, goalkeeper Mannings left kneecap was smashed stopping a bulleting strike at goal. Manning chose to stay on the field and continued to make save after save until the final whistle, when New Zealand claimed its first hockey gold.

It hurt. But the adrenalin was flowing so fast through me, I just put it all on the line. I just kept thinking, This is the Olympics; a gold medal, how good is that going to be? So I stopped worrying about it, Manning says.

Valerie Adams absolute domination in the shot put a sport that is an equal blend of grace and grunt has come from years of intense and sometimes solitary training regimes. The strength she calls on in the shot put circle is both physical and mental, and now shes digging even deeper in her comeback from double surgery, in a bid for triple Olympic gold in 2016.

 Muhammad Ali once said: Dont quit; suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion, says David Nyika. And thats what I intend to do. I intend to be the inspiration.

 

Rio 2016 Olympic Summer Games David Nyika Ted Morgan Valerie Adams Boxing
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