Olympic & Sporting Pursuits

Single 40c 'Rowing' gummed stamp.

Rowing is one of the most fiercely competitive inter-school sports in New Zealand and this grassroots competition appears the ideal grounding for future Olympic aspirants. At Olympic level New Zealand has a fine tradition in rowing. The highlight was undoubtedly the achievement in winning a gold medal in the men’s eights, the glamour event of the rowing regatta at the 1972 Games in Munich.

New Zealand won its first rowing medal in 1920 at Antwerp, the first year of competition as an independent nation after previously competing as members of the Australasian team. Darcy Hadfield won the bronze in the single sculls events.

Single 80c 'Equestrian' gummed stamp.

Equestrian has also been a medal-winning sport for New Zealand – the first in 1984 at the Los Angeles Olympics.

The New Zealand equestrian team went on to win team and individual medals at subsequent Olympic Games, including a silver medal in the 1992 three-day event in Barcelona. In that same year, New Zealand cyclist, Gary Anderson, won a bronze in the 4,000 metre individual pursuit.

Single $1.10 'Cycling' gummed stamp.

There are many contentious issues in the history of Olympic sport and for New Zealand cycling houses one of the most contentious.

In the 1972 road race in Munich, New Zealand’s Bruce Biddle finished fourth but was later promoted to third place after the bronze medallist was disqualified for a positive drug test. However Biddle was never awarded a medal and to this day does not appear on a list of New Zealand medallists.

New Zealand’s first medal in cycling came in Barcelona in 1992. Wanganui track cyclist Gary Anderson had dominated the track events at the Commonwealth Games in Auckland two years prior and finally made the breakthrough for New Zealand cycling at an Olympic level when he took the bronze medal in the 4,000 metre individual pursuit.

Single $1.20 'Triathlon' gummed stamp.

A combination of swimming, cycling and running, the triathlon is an exacting discipline that only the fittest will complete in. With the phenomenal growth in this relatively new sport in recent years it was perhaps only a matter of time before Olympic officials realised its worth and added it to the Olympic programme.

Single $1.50 'Bowls' gummed stamp.

Bowls is not part of the Olympic Games programme but a mainstay of Commonwealth Games. The game demands an extraordinary eye and a deft touch, split second timing and a keen sense of strategy.

Once again, this is a sport where New Zealand has enjoyed considerable success at both world and Commonwealth Games’ levels; more than might have been expected from a country our size. New Zealand has been represented in bowls in 13 Commonwealth Games. In that time, we have won no less than 27 medals, of which nine were gold. An impressive achievement.

Single $1.80 'Netball' gummed stamp.

Netball is New Zealand’s second most popular sport – having originated in a paddock in the early 1900s, it is now played by more than 12,000 teams throughout the country.

Though netball is another sport that is not part of the Olympic programme, it made a stunning entry into the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur in 1998. On that occasion, New Zealand won the silver medal.