Recreation

Our Canterbury Summer Olympians

See also:

The entire New Zealand Olympic team for 2008 can be found on the New Zealand Olympic Committee website.

The 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing open on 8 August 2008. 185 athletes will represent New Zealand across a range of sporting disciplines and quite a few have Canterbury links either by birth or residence. Perhaps the newest resident athlete is weightlifter Mark Spooner who has followed his coach south and is training at Tai Tapu.

Others with Canterbury connections:

  • Rebecca Wardell (Athletics)
  • Clare Bodensteiner, Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe, Natalie Purcell, Lisa Wallbutton, Nonila Wharemate, Suzie Bates (Basketball)
  • Joanne Kiesanowski, Hayden Roulston, Marc Ryan (cycling)
  • Mark Todd (equestrian)
  • Jeremy Brockie, Ryan Nelsen (soccer)
  • Gareth Brooks, Stacey Carr, Jaimee Claxton, Dean Couzins, Kate Saunders, Bradley Shaw, Hayden Shaw (Hockey)
  • Nathan Cohen, Carl Meyer (rowing)
  • Graeme Ede (shooting)
  • Helen Norfolk (swimming)
  • Andrea Hewitt (triathlon)

Cantabrian Olympians from the past

Anthony WildingAnthony Wilding was one of Christchurch’s most famous tennis players, but the Wimbledon champion also represented his country at the Olympics. Anthony Wilding A Sporting life puts his achievements alongside those of Jack Lovelock.

Jack Lovelock grew up in South Canterbury and was a doctor, athlete, military man and journalist. Fellow Timaru Boys’ High student Graeme Woodfield has written one of the most comprehensive biographies of the man who won gold in the mile race at Berlin in 1936.

Four years earlier Cyril Stiles, known as Bob, won silver in Los Angeles in 1932 with Fred ‘Rangi’ Thompson. Thompson, according to the his profile on the NZ Olympic Committee site, worked at Wilson Tanneries, lost his arm in an industrial accident, and later became a greengrocer in High Street. Both men continued their association with the Avon Club and the boat they won the silver medal in remains in the clubs rooms.

Peter Mander and Jack Cropp both lived in the eastern suburbs of Christchurch and were New Zealand’s first yachting representatives. They won gold at Melbourne in 1956 after a French protest led to the disqualification of the Australian team.

Valerie Sloper (Young) represented New Zealand at Tokyo in 1964 and also had tremendous Commonwealth Games success. She was born in Ashburton.

Boxer Brian Maunsell also went to the Tokyo games. He still lives in Christchurch.

Mene Mene, father of Chris and Bernice Mene, competed in the decathlon at the 1974 Christchurch Commonwealth Games and went as an official to the Olympics in 1992 and 1996.

Rowers Athol Earl and John Hunter were gold medal winners in Munich in 1972, and Earl won bronze in Montreal in 1976. Hunter attended the 1968 Olympics and also was later an official for the New Zealand rowing team.

Lindsay Wilson of Methven also shared Olympic glory, as did Gary Robertson. Robertson had a stint in Christchurch as a rubbish collector and as Rangi Ruru rowing coach. He was born in Oamaru, so we can’t deprive Otago of their famous son. Robertson was instrumental in setting up the rowing club at the Rangi Ruru and has seen Rangi Ruru become the power of national schoolgirls’ rowing.

Ian Ballinger won 1968 Olympic bronze in Mexico in smallbore shooting. He was 43, and the teams oldest member. The country’s most famous shooter later opened a firearms store in Christchurch.

In 1976 Barry and Selwyn Maister won gold at Montreal along with John Christensen, Thur Borren, Paul Ackerley and Tony Ineson. All of these men played for the University club. Alan Chesney played for Harewood.

Neroli Fairhall was an Olympian in Los Angeles in 1984 and a paralympian who competed in several games.

Chris Timms won a yachting gold in 1984 and silver in 1988 with Nelson’s Rex Sellers.

Donna Loffhagen is prehaps best-known as a Silver Fern netballer, but she has represented New Zealand at Olympic level in basketball.

Paralympian Graham Condon

Graham Condon won a total of 36 medals, including 7 gold in his Paralympic career. His life ended tragically in 2007 when he was struck by a car while riding his hand-propelled bicycle. The official Paralympics website features a profile of Graham Condon.

Help us complete this list

This is our initial list - do you have someone to add to our file?

More profiles

Profiles from the New Zealand Olympic Committee website:

Further info