For every medal New Zealand won at the Rio Olympics, New Zealand Post produced a unique stamp to celebrate.
Issue information
Athletes from around the world came together (on 5-21 August) at the 28th Summer Olympic Games to compete in 42 different sports, contested at 32 competition venues, spread across four regions of Rio. Since the inception of the first Olympic Games in 1896, our Kiwi athletes have inspired generations, winning a total of 103 medals - 43 gold, 19 silver and 41 bronze.
‘Be the Inspiration’ was the theme of New Zealand’s 2016 Olympic Games campaign. It told the story of how we as a nation support and inspire our athletes as they prepare to pull on the iconic black singlet - which has been worn with pride by generations before them - and in so doing, inspire us.
The journey to Rio was symbolised by a long ribbon that weaved its way throughout our motu (land), showing the path that our athletes have taken and the inspiration and support they have built along the way. Starting and ending with Te Māhutonga (the Southern Cross), the ribbon travels across the green hills, mountains and native forests of New Zealand to the beaches and bright lights of Rio de Janeiro.
Collectable Stamps to Celebrate the World’s Greatest Sporting Event
The stunning stamp issue consisted of ten $1 stamps - representing the ten events that New Zealand had previously won gold medals in: athletics, boxing, canoeing, swimming, equestrian, field hockey, triathlon, rowing, cycling and sailing. Featuring elements of the New Zealand Olympic Committee’s (NZOC's) ‘Be the Inspiration’ campaign, the photographs on the stamps reflected the New Zealand landscape as the athletes' training ground for future success.
The ten stamps were housed within a specially designed sheetlet and were uniquely shaped as parallelograms to represent movement - reflecting the active lifestyles of New Zealand’s Olympic athletes.
First Day Covers
The ‘Be the Inspiration’ ribbon was displayed in full on the set of two first day covers. It followed the New Zealand athletes' journey from New Zealand’s varied landscape to the vibrancy of Rio.
Special Presentation Pack
The perfect memento of the Rio Olympic games, this special presentation pack was written by New Zealand’s golden girl and gold medal winner, Barbara Kendall. You could learn about New Zealand’s journey to Rio and our previous Olympic successes and read her personal account of what it means to win gold for New Zealand. Inside, you could also find the sheetlet of ten stamps and the set of two first day covers.
Official Rio 2016 Medallist Stamps
New Zealand Post produced stamps on-the-fly to recognise our athletes’ achievements on the world stage in Rio de Janeiro. The stamps were offered as miniature sheets (each containing six stamps), and featured a photo of the medal winner/s from the Olympic Games. Themed around the ‘Be the Inspiration’ campaign, these miniature sheets were a must for your collection, and fit beautifully within the Road to Rio presentation pack.
Also available was the sheet of 18 medal winners stamps, a set of all 18 miniature sheets and the ultimate presentation pack.
Please note: There were no first day covers issued for the medal winner products.
Product Listing for 2016 Road to Rio
| Image | Title | Description | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sheetlet | Mint, used or cancelled sheetlet of 10 x $1.00 stamps. | $10.00 | |
| Sheet of Stamps | Mint, used or cancelled sheet of 20 x $1.00 stamps. | $20.00 | |
| Winners Sheet of Stamps | Mint, used or cancelled sheet of 18 x $1.00 medal winners gummed stamps. | $18.00 | |
| Set of First Day Covers | Set of two first day covers with gummed stamps affixed. Cancelled on the first day of issue. | $11.00 | |
| Presentation Pack |
The perfect memento of the Rio Olympic games, this special presentation pack was written by New Zealand’s golden girl and gold medal winner, Barbara Kendall. Inside, you could find the sheetlet of ten stamps and the set of two first day covers. The presentation pack also contained a pocket designed to house some very special stamp collectables to be issued in August. As New Zealand wins medals, New Zealand Post printed special stamps featuring images of the medal winners. As you collected them, you could house them in this presentation pack to make the ultimate Rio 2016 collectable! |
$24.90 | |
| Ultimate Presentation Pack | If you wanted the ultimate stamp collectable to commemorate the Rio Olympic games, this ultimate presentation pack was for you! We made it easy for you to purchase the presentation pack with all 18 miniature sheets included. The presentation pack was written by New Zealand’s golden girl and gold medal winner, Barbara Kendall. Inside, you could also find the sheetlet of ten stamps and the set of two first day covers and now the 18 miniature sheets. | $132.90 | |
| Miniature Sheet | Mint, used or cancelled gummed miniature sheet celebrating the gold medal for Mahe Drysdale in Rowing: Single Scull - Men. | $6.00 | |
| Miniature Sheet | Mint, used or cancelled gummed miniature sheet celebrating the gold medal for Lisa Carrington in Sprint: K-1 - 200m - Women. | $6.00 | |
| Miniature Sheet | Mint, used or cancelled gummed miniature sheet celebrating the gold medal for Eric Murray and Hamish Bond in Rowing: Pair - Men. | $6.00 | |
| Miniature Sheet | Mint, used or cancelled gummed miniature sheet celebrating the gold medal for Peter Burling and Blair Tuke in Sailing: 49er - Men. | $6.00 | |
| Miniature Sheet | Mint, used or cancelled gummed miniature sheet celebrating the silver medal for Lydia Ko in Golf: Individual - Women. | $6.00 | |
| Miniature Sheet | Mint, used or cancelled gummed miniature sheet celebrating the silver medal for Molly Meech and Alex Maloney in Sailing: 49er FX - Women. | $6.00 | |
| Miniature Sheet | Mint, used or cancelled gummed miniature sheet celebrating the silver medal for Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie in Sailing: 470 - Women. | $6.00 | |
| Miniature Sheet | Mint, used or cancelled gummed miniature sheet celebrating the silver medal for Natalie Rooney in Shooting: Trap - Women. | $6.00 | |
| Miniature Sheet | Mint, used or cancelled gummed miniature sheet celebrating the silver medal for Valerie Adams in Athletics: Shot Put - Women. | $6.00 | |
| Miniature Sheet | Mint, used or cancelled gummed miniature sheet celebrating the silver medal for Genevieve Behrent and Rebecca Scown in Rowing: Pair - Women. | $6.00 | |
| Miniature Sheet | Mint, used or cancelled gummed miniature sheet celebrating the silver medal for Ethan Mitchell, Sam Webster and Eddie Dawkins in Cycling - Track: Team Sprint - Men. | $6.00 | |
| Miniature Sheet | Mint, used or cancelled gummed miniature sheet celebrating the silver medal for Luuka Jones in Slalom: K-1 - Women. | $6.00 | |
| Miniature Sheet | Mint, used or cancelled gummed miniature sheet celebrating the silver medal for Rugby Sevens - Women. | $6.00 | |
| Miniature Sheet | Mint, used or cancelled gummed miniature sheet celebrating the bronze medal for Nick Willis in Athletics: 1500m - Men. | $6.00 | |
| Miniature Sheet | Mint, used or cancelled gummed miniature sheet celebrating the bronze medal for Eliza McCartney in Athletics: Pole Vault - Women. | $6.00 | |
| Miniature Sheet | Mint, used or cancelled gummed miniature sheet celebrating the bronze medal for Tomas Walsh in Athletics: Shot Put - Men. | $6.00 | |
| Miniature Sheet | Mint, used or cancelled gummed miniature sheet celebrating the bronze medal for Lisa Carrington in Sprint: K-1 - 500m - Women. | $6.00 | |
| Miniature Sheet | Mint, used or cancelled gummed miniature sheet celebrating the bronze medal for Sam Meech in Sailing: Laser - Men. | $6.00 |
| Miniature Sheet |
| Miniature Sheet |
Technical information
Rio Stamps
| Date of issue: | 6 July 2016 |
|---|---|
| Number of stamps: | Ten gummed stamps |
| Denominations: | $1.00 x ten |
| Stamps and first day covers designed by: | Jonathan Gray, New Zealand Post, Wellington, New Zealand |
| Printer and process: | Southern Colour Print by offset lithography |
| Number of colours: | Four process colours |
| Stamp size and format: | 42mm x 30.27mm (horizontal parallelogram) |
| Paper type: | 104gsm red phosphor gummed stamp paper |
| Perforation gauge: | 14 x 14.29 |
| Stamps per sheet: | 20 |
| Period of sale: | These stamps remained on sale until 5 July 2017. First day covers remained on sale until 3 September 2016. |
Rio Medallist Stamps
| Issued from: | 8 August 2016 |
|---|---|
| Number of stamps: | Eighteen gummed stamps |
| Denominations: | $1.00 x eighteen |
| Stamps designed by: | Jonathan Gray, New Zealand Post, Wellington, New Zealand |
| Printer and process: | Collectables and Solutions Centre, New Zealand Post, Whanganui, New Zealand |
| Number of colours: | Four process colours |
| Stamp size and format: | 42mm x 30.27mm (horizontal parallelogram) |
| Paper type: | 104gsm red phosphor gummed stamp paper |
| Perforation gauge: | 14 x 14.29 |
| Stamps per sheet: | 18 |
| Period of sale: | These stamps remained on sale until 5 July 2017. Note, there were no first day covers produced for this issue. |
