New Zealand at the 1972 Summer Olympics

New Zealand competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. For the first time at the Olympics, God Defend New Zealand was played instead of God Save the King/Queen. The New Zealand Olympic Committee was represented by 89 competitors, 82 men and 7 women, who took part in 63 events in 14 sports.[1]

New Zealand at the
1972 Summer Olympics
IOC codeNZL
NOCNew Zealand Olympic and British Commonwealth Games Association
Websitewww.olympic.org.nz
in Munich
Competitors89 (82 men, 7 women) in 14 sports
Flag bearer David Aspin (Wrestling)
Medals
Ranked 23rd
Gold
1
Silver
1
Bronze
1
Total
3
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
Other related appearances
 Australasia (1908–1912)

Medal tables

MedalNameSportEventDate
 GoldTony Hurt
Wybo Veldman
Dick Joyce
John Hunter
Lindsay Wilson
Joe Earl
Trevor Coker
Gary Robertson
Simon Dickie (cox)
RowingMen's eight2 September
 SilverDick Tonks
Dudley Storey
Ross Collinge
Noel Mills
RowingMen's coxless four2 September
 BronzeRod DixonAthleticsMen's 1500 metres10 September
Medals by sport
Sport Total
Rowing1102
Athletics0011
Total1113
Medals by gender
Gender Total
Male1113
Female0000
Total1113

Archery

In the first modern archery competition at the Olympics, New Zealand entered one man in the competition.

AthleteEventRound 1Round 2TotalRank
30 m50 m70 m90 mTotalRank30 m50 m70 m90 mTotalRank
Robin SampsonMen's individual278268279235106053309210289247105553211553

Athletics

Track and road

AthleteEventHeatQuarterfinalSemifinalFinal
ResultRank[i]ResultRank[ii]ResultRank[iii]ResultRank
Laurie D'ArcyMen's 100 m10.775did not advance
Rod DixonMen's 1500 m3:40.02 Q3:37.91 Q3:37.5
Jack FosterMen's marathon2:16:568
Sue HadenWomen's 800 m2:04.864did not advance
Penny HuntWomen's 400 m52.822 Q52.666did not advance
Roger JohnsonMen's 400 m hurdles50.484did not advance
Terry MannersMen's marathon2:25:2934
Brenda MatthewsWomen's 100 m11.775 Q11.878did not advance
Women's 100 m hurdles13.815did not advance
Dave McKenzieMen's marathon2:22:1922
Tony PolhillMen's 1500 m3:42.32 Q3:41.83 Q3:41.89
Dick QuaxMen's 5000 m14:35.29did not advance
Bevan SmithMen's 200 m21.173 Q21.044did not advance
Dick TaylerMen's 5000 m13:56.210did not advance
Gavin ThorleyMen's 5000 m14:11.610did not advance
Men's 10,000 mDNFdid not advance

Field

AthleteEventQualificationFinal
ResultRankResultRank
Les MillsMen's shot put18.3823did not advance
Men's discus throw59.2214 Q55.8614
Robin TaitMen's discus throw56.6020did not advance

Boxing

AthleteEventRound of 64Round of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalRank
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Jeff RackleyMen's welterweightBye  Meier (FRG)
L 0 – 5
did not advance=17
Pat RyanMen's featherweightBye  Kobayashi (JPN)
L 1 – 4
did not advance=17

Canoeing

AthleteEventHeatsRepechagesSemifinalsFinal
TimeRankTimeRankTimeRankTimeRank
Donald CooperMen's K-1 1000 m4:12.455 R4:02.481 Q4:01.975did not advance
Donald Cooper
Tom Dooney
Men's K-2 1000 m3:56.485 R3:45.655did not advance

Cycling

Eight cyclists represented New Zealand in 1972.

Road

Men's individual road race
AthleteTimeRank
Bruce Biddle4:15:043[i]
Paul Brydon4:17:0350
Vern HanarayDNF
Robert OliverDNF

Track

Men's 1000 m time trial
AthleteTimeRank
Harry Kent1:09.1016
Men's team pursuit
AthleteQualificationQuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal / BM
TimeRankOpposition
Time
Opposition
Time
Opposition
Time
Rank
Paul Brydon
John Dean
Neil Lyster
Blair Stockwell
4:35.1114did not advance

Brent Pascoe was the reserve rider, but did not compete.

Gymnastics

Men's individual

Apparatus qualifying and all-around
AthleteFloorPommel horseRingsVaultParallel barsHorizontal barAll-around
total
All-around
rank
CORankCORankCORankCORankCORankCORank
Terry Sale7.3008.650=1046.5008.050=1016.6007.3501109.0008.900=716.6508.5001106.1508.40011092.050110

Sale did not qualify for any of the apparatus finals.

Women's individual

Apparatus qualifying and all-around
AthleteVaultUneven barsBalance beamFloorAll-around
total
All-around
rank
CORankCORankCORankCORank
Diane Foote8.6008.900=697.9507.8001138.4008.100948.3508.750=9966.850=104

Foote did not qualify for any of the apparatus finals.

Field hockey

Men's tournament

Team roster
Jeff Archibald
Arthur Borren
Jan Borren
John Christensen
Greg Dayman
Chris Ineson
Ross McPherson
Barry Maister
Selwyn Maister
Trevor Manning
Arthur Parkin
Ramesh Patel
Alan Patterson
Kevin Rigby
Ted Salmon
Warwick Wright
Head coach

Ross Gillespie

Group B
27 August 1972 (1972-08-27)
New Zealand  1–1  Australia
28 August 1972 (1972-08-28)
New Zealand  7–0  Mexico
30 August 1972 (1972-08-30)
New Zealand  2–1  Great Britain
31 August 1972 (1972-08-31)
Netherlands  2–0  New Zealand
2 September 1972 (1972-09-02)
New Zealand  3–3  Poland
3 September 1972 (1972-09-03)
New Zealand  2–2  Kenya
4 September 1972 (1972-09-04)
India  3–2  New Zealand
TeamPldWDLGFGAPtsQualification
 India752025812Advance to semi-finals
 Netherlands751120911Advance to semi-finals
 Great Britain7412151095th–8th place classification
 Australia732218885th–8th place classification
 New Zealand7232161179th / 10th place play-off
 Poland72231212611th / 12th place play-off
 Kenya7115817313th / 14th place play-off
 Mexico7007140015th / 16th place play-off
9th / 10th Place play-off
8 September 1972 (1972-09-08)
New Zealand  2–1 (0–0)  Belgium

New Zealand finished the men's field hockey tournament in ninth place.

Judo

AthleteEventPoolRepechagesSemifinalFinalRank
Round of 64Round of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalSemifinalRepechageSemifinalFinal
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Rick LittlewoodMen's middleweightBye  Adamczyk (POL)
W
 Bijkerk (AUS)
W
 Sekine (JPN)
L
did not advance=11

Rowing

1972 was the last year that only men competed at the Olympic rowing events.[2] New Zealand entered boats in four of the seven events.[3] The gold medal won by the 1972 New Zealand eight is one of New Zealand's most memorable performances, and was in 2008 rated by sports journalist Joseph Romanos as New Zealand's best ever team performance at the Olympic Games.[4]

AthleteEventHeatsRepechageSemifinalsFinal
TimeRankTimeRankTimeRankTimeRank
Murray WatkinsonSingle sculls7:51.292 R8:11.513 SA/B8:30.885 FB8:05.4210
Dick Tonks
Dudley Storey
Ross Collinge
Noel Mills
Coxless four6:47.271 SA/BBye7:03.991 FA6:25.64
Warren Cole
Chris Nilsson
John Clark
David Lindstrom
Peter Lindsay
Coxed four6:51,763 SA/BBye7:21.943 FA6:42.556
Tony Hurt
Wybo Veldman
Dick Joyce
John Hunter
Lindsay Wilson
Joe Earl
Trevor Coker
Gary Robertson
Simon Dickie
(cox)
Eight6:06.191 RBye6:28.402 FA6:08.94

Sailing

AthleteEventRaceNet pointsFinal rank
1234567
Fraser Beer
Noel Everett (helm)
Ron Watson
Dragon14.019.021.015.03.00.0C51.05
Jock Bilger (helm)
Murray Ross
Flying Dutchman20.027.03.03.010.017.024.079.09
Bret De ThierFinn15.011.721.03.033.041.0
DNF
26.0109.710
Con Linton
Steve Marten (helm)
Jack Scholes
Soling20.024.025.026.026.018.0C113.021

Jonty Farmer, Jack Hansen, Geoff Smals and Bryan Treleaven were named as alternates but did not compete.

Shooting

Four male shooters represented New Zealand in 1972.

Mixed 25 m rapid fire pistol
AthleteRound 1Round 2Round 3TotalRank
Bruce McMillan19719519058228
Mixed 50 m rifle, prone
AthleteRound 1Round 2Round 3Round 4Round 5Round 6TotalRank
Ian Ballinger98100100100979659146
Mike Watt9998100100999759329
Mixed 50 m running target
AthleteSlow runFast runTotalRank
Graeme McIntyre27025352326

Swimming

AthleteEventHeatSemifinalFinal
ResultRankResultRankResultRank
Heather CoombridgeWomen's 100 m freestyle1:02.9535did not advance
Women's 200 m freestyle2:14.7822did not advance
Colin HerringMen's 100 m freestyle54.41=22did not advance
Men's 200 m freestyle2:00.2926did not advance
Susan HunterWomen's 100 m backstroke1:10.0626did not advance
Women's 200 m backstroke2:28.2821did not advance
Women's 200 m individual medley2:30.2917did not advance
Women's 400 m individual medley5:14.479did not advance
John McConnochieMen's 200 m individual medley2:15.0415did not advance
Men's 400 m individual medley4:49.8917did not advance
Jaynie ParkhouseWomen's 400 m freestyle4:40.2419did not advance
Women's 800 m freestyle9:34.6516did not advance
Mark TreffersMen's 400 m freestyle4:14.1020did not advance
Men's 1500 m freestyle16:23.866 Q16:18.846

Weightlifting

AthleteEventPressSnatchClean & JerkTotalRank
ResultRankResultRankResultRank
John BoltonMen's middle heavyweightNVLDNF
Tony EbertMen's middleweight137.5=16117.5=17155.0=15410.017
Brian MarsdenMen's light heavyweight142.515120.0=17172.5=9435.012

Wrestling

AthleteEventRound 1Round 2Round 3Round 4Round 5FinalRank
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
David AspinMen's freestyle middleweight  Birajdar (IND)
Both DQ
 Hagilou (IRI)
L
Eliminated

Officials

  • Chef de Mission – Joe McManemin[5]
  • Assistant team manager – Jack Prestney[6]
  • Team doctor – Tom Anderson[7]
  • Chaperone – Doris Fitzsimmons[8]
  • Archery section manager – Jack Richards[9]
  • Athletics
  • Boxing section manager – David Tipping[11]
  • Canoeing section manager – Stan Robinson[12]
  • Cycling
    • Section manager – Colin Hollows[13]
    • Coach / mechanic – Bruce Goldsworthy[13]
  • Field hockey
  • Gymnastics section manager – Cameron A. R. Buchanan[14]
  • Judo section manager – Jack Fielding[15]
  • Rowing
  • Sailing section manager – Hal Wagstaff[9]
  • Shooting section manager – Hong Tse[16]
  • Swimming
    • Section manager – Graeme Brockett[17]
    • Coach – Pic Parkhouse[12]
  • Weightlifting
    • Section manager – Peter Watson[18]
    • Coach – Paul Newberry[12]
  • Wrestling section manager – Art Pickering[9]

References