As the clock ticks down to the start of Rio 2016, we're taking the opportunity to take a look back at New Zealand's Olympic past. 43 times Kiwis have stepped onto the top step of the podium, but who is the best. Well, we want you to tell us.
While you wait for the flame to be lit in Rio, help decide who is New Zealand's Greatest Olympic Champion. Every few days between now and August 5th, a set of brackets will be open for voting until our field of 16 is whittled down to one ultimate Olympian.
Check out each match up and place your votes!
Cast your votes at the bottom of the page
Today we look at the first four match-ups . These names include some of our greatest ever athletes.
Peter Snell wins Gold in Tokyo (Photosport)
Snell arrived at the Rome Olympics in 1960 an unknown 21 year old ranked 26th in the 1500m, but that didn’t last long, stunning the athletics world to win gold in Olympic record time. Four years later Snell went even better, becoming just the second man in Olympic history to complete the 800m-1500m double in Tokyo, again breaking the 800m Olympic record.
Malcolm Champion - far left - alongside his Australasian gold medal winning teammates (Photosport)
Eight years before New Zealand would make its first appearance at the Olympic Games, Champion became the first New Zealander to win a gold medal. Competing for the combined Australasian team in Stockholm, Champion was drafted into the 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay team who won gold in world record time. Champion was highly regarded enough to carry the Australasian flag into the opening ceremony.
Yvette Wiliams (Photosport)
The first New Zealand woman to win an Olympic gold medal, Williams lept to glory in the Long Jump in Helsinki in 1952 though it nearly wasn’t to be after fouling her first two attempts. She safely made it through to the final where she set an Olympic record and came within 1 centimetre of the world record (don't worry, she got the record the following year). The versatile Williams also placed in the top ten in the Discus and Shot Put in Helsinki.
Murray Halberg (Photosport)
Like Peter Snell, Halberg was a student of legendary running coach Arthur Lydiard, and the three characters are very much linked. Halberg lined up for the final of the 5000m in 1960 just minutes after Snell had won the 1500m. Inspired by Snell's run and working to Lydiard's game plan, Halberg made his move three laps from the finish, holding on to complete a golden day for New Zealand on the track in Rome.
Barbara Kendall (Photosport)
40 years after Yvette Williams' gold, Kendall became the second New Zealand woman to be crowned an Olympic champion with gold in Boardsailing in Barcelona in 1992. She didn't stop there, adding silver four years later in Atlanta then completing the set with bronze in Sydney. The only New Zealand woman to attend five Olympics, Kendall continues her involvement as a member or the International Olympic Committee.
Jack Lovelock (Photosport)
Lovelock achieved his Olympic triumph in the most hostile of arenas: in front of Hitler at the 1936 Berlin Games. In his own words, the 1500m final was "the most perfectly-executed race of my life". More known as a sprinter, the Kiwi made his break an unprecedented 300m from the line, to beat a strong field and the world record. Lovelock's gold was New Zealand's second ever, and the first of many in athletics.
Danyon Loader (Photosport)
New Zealand has won only six Olympic medals in the pool and half of those belong to Loader. After taking silver in the 200m Butterfly as a 17 year old in Barcelona, Loader won New Zealand's first swimming gold in the 200m Freestyle in Atlanta in 1996, then added another in the 400m Freestyle. The medal haul places Loader third on the list of New Zealand's most successful Olympians.
John Walker (Photosport)
The third of New Zealand's 1500m Olympic champions, Walker entered the 1976 Montreal Games as one of the stars of international athletics. Though an African boycott (caused by an All Blacks tour of South Africa) robbed Walker of his greatest rival, he still outran the field to claim the prize. "They can break your world records" said Walker after the race "but they can never take away your gold medal".
