Paris 2024: The greatest moments of the greatest Olympics in NZ history

Veteran sports journalist Alex Chapman was lucky enough to be on the ground for almost all of the most iconic Kiwi moments at Paris 2024 - a Games that will go down in Kiwi sporting folklore.

He relives the magic of those moments below, recapping the greatest Olympics campaign in NZ history.

Dame Lisa Carrington

Let's start with the obvious, the GOAT in the boat.

The fact that she’s now won the same amount of golds as Usain Bolt, with only seven more people in Olympic (summer or winter) history having won more, is nothing short of incredibly impressive.

Will it ever be beaten by a Kiwi? Who knows. But she has dominated canoe sprint like we haven’t seen a New Zealander do in any other sport.

The wins were at times straightforward and as you’d expect, but the emotion we saw after the K1 victory is rare for Carrington.

Perhaps it was the realisation that that could’ve been the last time, but the jumping up and down on the dais like a kid celebrating a certificate at school assembly, was strikingly wholesome.

Canoe Sprint

Yes, Carrington won three golds, but let’s not forget that Alicia Hoskin won two, and the other two members of the K4, Olivia Brett and Tara Vaughan also claimed gold.

If this really is it for Carrington, then she leaves the programme in an incredibly healthy and competitive state.

Also, shoutout to Aimee Fisher for her heart-wrenching post-race interview, which was conducted with beautiful empathy by Kimberlee Downs.

Hamish Kerr

When he soared over the 2.34m in the jump-off and sprinted into the middle of the field, you could see the relief that Hamish Kerr was leaving on the mat. This was now blissful jubilation.

And then when he collapsed on the ground, first like he was going to make a snow angel of sorts, and then leaping up disbelief, the reality was clearly sinking in. Just the third Kiwi - and first male - to win Olympic gold in a field event, this was as much about his mental work, as it was skill.

We saw signs of the old Hamish when he was battling in qualifying, and a little bit when he was going for 2.31m. But when the smile comes out, the gum chewing gets going, and the crowd behind him, a confident Kerr - as he proved - can’t be beat.

As my old boss Tom Bartlett said as we were watching together in Stade de France, “you need to be a bit of an alpha dog in this” and while it’s not a very natural persona for Kiwis, Hamish Kerr’s now the alpha dog of men’s high jump.

Ellesse Andrews

After a shock silver in Tokyo, current world champion Ellesse Andrews should have been the gold medal favourite in the women's keirin final, despite what the betting market may have suggested.

And she showed why, before a dominant performance in the individual sprint, an event she’s worked tirelessly on improving in. No longer the rising star of Cycling New Zealand’s track programme, she is its brightest star in a constellation of so many - we’ll get to the others soon.

Without going full nerd, the way Andrews made, and the timing of her moves in the deciders of both events, was nothing short of maturity. Further signs of her self-assurance, Andrews was composed after her Keirin win, that it almost just seemed like confirmation of what she’d expected and planned for. Jon Andrews then hopefully hugging her more as Dad than as coach, after he sprinted to the other side of the velodrome to celebrate with a lap to go.

In my opinion, Ellesse is already our greatest track cyclist, and at still only 24, if she continues on this path, she could be in an even greater Olympic conversation. She can only get better, which is scary.

Cycling New Zealand in general

Ellesse, understandably, deserved her own section, but let’s not forget what this high performance programme has done in a short space of time, which is beyond just commendable. Bearing in mind, so many of them were told by those internally (now formerly), following Michael Heron’s second review in 2022, that Los Angeles, rather than Paris, should be the focus. Especially after the departure of experienced riders and the introduction of new coaches and staff.

Well, the medals returned in the team sprint, women’s team pursuit, and Ally Wollaston in the omnium, showed that’s not the case. And with so many of these riders still likely to be around for at least another Olympic cycle (pun-intended), you’d hope they can only grow from this. The pressure is now on the lads.

The Rowers

Some had speculated that their mates down the road in Cambridge may leave them in their dust, but the Karapiro crew showed that wouldn’t be the case.

There was a moment as their names were read out as gold medallists in the women’s double scull, that Lucy Spoors turned to Brooke Francis and said something.

Brooke smiled, Lucy started to sob, the achievement was clearly hitting them. Rupert and Keira can be incredibly proud of their mums.

Speaking of mums, Emma Twigg hangs up her oars as a wonderful example of tenacity. We all know the story of the repeated fourth-place finishes, the retirement, and the resulting unfinished business which saw her win gold in Tokyo and then silver in Paris. Twigg leaves as one of our all-time greats, not only because of her achievements, but her ability to have those aspire to be as hardworking as her.

Both fours claiming medals shows the rebuild, whether it even needs to be called that, is well and truly underway at Rowing NZ.

Finn Butcher

We often see Kiwis win surprise medals at Olympics - think McCartney, Jones, Schmidt and Rooney in recent memory - but very rarely are they gold. If ever there was a summary of "this Kiwi means business” it’s the concoction of a mana wave followed by a stern stare and creak of the neck. The euphoric grin that Finn Butcher had after claiming the kayak cross was infectious.

As special, was the reception at New Zealand House both that night, and the following day. Hours after his glorious gold, Butcher returned to a small group of friends and family waiting for him, long after the bar had closed. He sprayed champagne, saluted and celebrated with those nearest and dearest to him, before returning the next day to the far more public welcome you may have seen on social media.

Not only for him, but for Luuka Jones as well. If Butcher is who brings the sport into mainstream discussion, it can’t be forgotten that Jones started the conversation for the likes of Butcher to initially have.

As he held a beer in each hand at NZ House, Butcher acknowledged this sort of attention was something he hadn’t had before, not only from kids, but adults too. Not bad for a kid from Alexandra who learnt his sport on a cherry irrigation damn.

Lydia Ko

The queen of the green.

Regardless of whether you like it being in the Games, golf will now always hold a special place in our Olympic history. The outpouring of emotion from Ko, showed how much being a Kiwi means to her.

So often an individual athlete on the LPGA Tour, to win a gold medal for her country, no doubt would’ve been up there in career accolades. For many Kiwi sports fans, it was the highlight of the Olympics.

Black Ferns Sevens

They started the ball rolling on New Zealand’s medals - side note, lets remember in four years' time not to panic in the first few days, eh? A couple of small scares in the first halves of their semi-final and final, before putting the foot on the throat in their customary way.

A heck of a way for Portia Woodman-Wickliffe and Tyler King to say haere ra to the team they represented for so long, while talismanic skipper Sarah Hirini’s comeback story had the fitting ending of note only the gold medal, but another injury which she, of course, played through.

Maddi Wesche

Damn, we love heaving a rock.

After the heartbreak of Tom Walsh, and dominance of the Americans, which left Jacko Gill out of medal contention, Maddi Wesche emerged from the shadow of Dame Valerie Adams and stood in her own spotlight (circle).

Heck of a final, too.

Hayden Wilde

Talk about humility. I was at the men’s triathlon and saw Wilde run past on the final sprint, with Alex Yee following, only for the Brit to lead in the opposite direction. I genuinely thought I’d blinked and missed Wilde going past.

As for that photo, hang it in the damn Louvre - instantly an iconic piece of New Zealand sporting history.

The NZOC crew

As a sports fan back home, you may not realise the toil this lot put into making sure not only the athletes have a smooth and successful Games, but that everything is delivered back to us, as Kiwis.

As a mate of mine said, "the NZ Team run an absolute ELITE social media operation, don’t they?” The access they allow is almost instant, and definitely unrivalled. From a media perspective, they’re just good humans who make your lives easy.