New Zealand competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's twenty-third appearance as an independent nation at the Summer Olympics, having made its debut at the 1920 Games and competed at every Games since. The New Zealand team consisted of 199 athletes, 100 women and 99 men, across twenty sports, the first time New Zealand was represented by more women than men at the Summer Olympics.

The New Zealand team collected a total of 18 medals, four gold, nine silver and five bronze, at these Games, surpassing a record of 13 gained at both the 1988 and 2012 Summer Olympics; it also exceeded High Performance Sport New Zealand's (HPSNZ) target of 14 medals for the Games. Athletics (track and field) and sailing led the sports with four medals each, with three medals in each of canoeing and rowing, and one medal in each of cycling, golf, rugby sevens and shooting. Rowers Mahé Drysdale, Hamish Bond and Eric Murray, and sprint canoeist Lisa Carrington successfully defended their Olympic titles, while sailors Peter Burling and Blair Tuke ran away in the 49er class standings and secured their gold-medal victory before the final two races. New Zealand women won the majority of the medals (11), the second time this has happened in the nation's Olympic history (the first was in 1952).

Medal tables Unless otherwise stated, all dates and times are in Brasília time (UTC−3), fifteen hours behind New Zealand Standard Time (UTC+12).

| width="78%" align="left" valign="top" | MedalNameSportEventDate Eric Murray Rowing Men's coxless pair Rowing Men's single sculls Canoeing Women's K-1 200 m Blair Tuke Sailing Men's 49er Shooting Women's trap Rugby sevens Women's tournament Canoeing Women's slalom K-1 Ethan MitchellSam Webster Cycling Men's team sprint Athletics Women's shot put Rebecca Scown Rowing Women's coxless pair Polly Powrie Sailing Women's 470 Molly Meech Sailing Women's 49er FX Golf Women's individual Sailing Laser Canoeing Women's K-1 500 m Athletics Men's shot put Athletics Women's pole vault Athletics Men's 1500 metres

Golfer Lydia Ko (b. 24 April 1997), pole vaulter Eliza McCartney (b. 11 December 1996) and rugby sevens player Terina Te Tamaki (b. 1 May 1997) became the first teenaged women to win an Olympic medal for New Zealand, beating the previous record set by 21-year old Jean Stewart at the 1952 Summer Olympics.

In addition, Nikki Hamblin was awarded a Fair Play award by the International Fair Play Committee for her actions in her 5,000m heat.

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Medals by sportSportTotal Rowing2103 Sailing1214 Canoeing1113 Athletics0134 Cycling0101 Golf0101 Rugby sevens0101 Shooting0101 Total49518

Medals by dateDateTotal 6 August0000 7 August0101 8 August0101 9 August0000 10 August0000 11 August 1 2 03 12 August 0 2 02 13 August 1 0 01 14 August0000 15 August0000 16 August1012 17 August0000 18 August1225 19 August0011 20 August0112 21 August0000 Total49518

Medals by genderGenderTotal Male3137 Female18211 Total49518

Delegation The New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) confirmed a team of 199 athletes, 99 men and 100 women, to compete in twenty sports. It is the largest delegation New Zealand has sent to the Olympics, surpassing the 184 athletes who were sent to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. The nation participated in four more sports than 2012: while not qualifying any competitors in boxing, New Zealand qualified competitors in golf and rugby sevens (both new to the 2016 Games), diving, gymnastics and wrestling. Also missing from the 2016 team is the men's football squad, having been disqualified after fielding an ineligible player in the Olympic qualifying tournament. Rowing had the largest delegation with 36 competitors; diving, judo, taekwondo and wrestling had the smallest delegations with only one competitor each.

For individual sports, the NZOC's overarching selection policy meant it would only consider selecting athletes that were proven capable of making the top 16. For team sports, the NZOC would only consider selecting teams proven capable of advancing beyond the first round.

Seventeen-year-old gymnast Courtney McGregor is New Zealand's youngest competitor, while 62-year-old equestrian dressage rider Julie Brougham is the oldest competitor. Forty-one competitors (20.5 percent) are of Māori descent, including 17 of the 24 rugby sevens players.

A number of past Olympic medallists returned, including defending champions: Valerie Adams (women's shot put), sailors Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie (women's 470 class), flatwater canoeist Lisa Carrington (women's K-1 200m), and rowers Mahé Drysdale (men's single sculls), and Hamish Bond and Eric Murray (men's pair). Sailors Peter Burling and Blair Tuke, who won silver in 2012, were selected as co-captains of the New Zealand team, with Burling acting as flagbearer for the opening ceremony.

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The following is the list of number of competitors participating in the Games by sport and gender. Note that unused reserves in field hockey, football, and rugby sevens are not counted as competitors: SportMenWomenTotalAthletics 8 6 14Canoeing 2 6 8Cycling 12 8 20Diving 0 1 1Equestrian 3 2 5Field hockey 16 16 32Football 0 18 18Golf 2 1 3Gymnastics 2 1 3Judo 0 1 1Rowing 22 14 36Rugby sevens 12 12 24Sailing 7 5 12Shooting 1 2 3Swimming 6 3 9Taekwondo 0 1 1Tennis 2 0 2Triathlon 2 2 4Weightlifting 1 1 2Wrestling 1 0 1 Total 99 100 199

Officials In December 2012, Rob Waddell was appointed New Zealand's chef de mission for the 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2016 Summer Olympics.

Funding High Performance Sport New Zealand (HPSNZ) invested NZ$158.6 million in elite-level Olympic sports and athletes over the 2013–16 funding cycle, of which $104.0 million was core funding to national sports organisations, while the remaining $54.5 million was mainly in the form of grants and tertiary scholarships to individual athletes. These totals includes funding for non-Olympic and Paralympic events such as world championships and the Commonwealth Games.

Funding breakdown per sport was as follows:

Sport Total funding(thousands NZD) Core funding(thousands NZD)Rowing 32,069 19,815Cycling 26,471 17,500Sailing 18,363 12,450Athletics 14,462 8,325Equestrian 9,110 7,200Swimming 8,458 5,600Triathlon 7,606 5,300Hockey (women) 9,378 5,200Canoeing (sprint) 7,567 4,875Rugby sevens (men) 5,321 4,800Rugby sevens (women) 4,914 3,700Football (women) 6,078 3,500Hockey (men) 5,726 3,250 Other qualified sports 2,113 1,492 Non-qualified sports 996 954 Total 158,631 103,961

Athletics (track and field)

New Zealand athletes achieved both the IAAF and Athletics New Zealand qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event): The NZOC confirmed the first batch of track and field athletes on 22 April 2016, with Beijing 2008 silver medallist Nick Willis, javelin thrower Stuart Farquhar and two-time shot put champion Valerie Adams going to their fourth Olympics.

Track & road events Men AthleteEventHeatSemifinalFinalResultRankResultRankResultRankHamish Carson1500 m 3:48.18 8 did not advanceJulian Matthews 3:40.40 9 did not advanceQuentin Rew20 km walkcolspan=4 50 km walkcolspan=4 3:49:32 12Zane Robertson10000 mcolspan=4 27:33.67 NR 12Nick Willis1500 m 3:38.55 6 Q 3:39.96 3 Q 3:50.24

Women AthleteEventHeatSemifinalFinalResultRankResultRankResultRankAlana Barber20 km walkcolspan=4 1:35:5535Nikki Hamblin1500 m4:11.8813 did not advance5000 m 16:43.61 15 qcolspan=2 16:14.24 17Lucy Oliver5000 m 15:53.77 14colspan=2 did not advanceAngie Petty800 m 2:02.40 4 did not advance

Field events AthleteEventQualificationFinalResultRankResultRankStuart FarquharMen's javelin throw 77.32 29 did not advanceJacko GillMen's shot put 20.80 4 Q 20.50 9Tom Walsh 21.03 2 Q 21.36 Valerie AdamsWomen's shot put19.741 Q20.42Eliza McCartneyWomen's pole vault4.605 Q4.80 NR

Canoeing

Slalom New Zealand canoeists qualified a maximum of one boat in each of the following classes through the 2015 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships. The NZOC named the slalom canoeing squad on 15 April 2016.

AthleteEventPreliminarySemifinalFinalRun 1RankRun 2RankBestRankTimeRankTimeRankMike DawsonMen's K-1 88.91 4 90.86 10 88.91 8 Q 91.47 5 93.07 10Luuka JonesWomen's K-1 100.59 2 101.96 3 100.59 4 Q 108.05 7 101.82

Sprint New Zealand canoeists qualified one boat in each of the following events through the 2015 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships and the 2016 Oceania Championships. Six paddlers on the sprint canoeing team were named on 31 March 2016, including defending Olympic K-1 200-metre champion Lisa Carrington.

AthleteEventHeatsSemifinalsFinalTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankMarty McDowellMen's K-1 1000 m3:39.5820 did not advanceLisa CarringtonWomen's K-1 200 m 40.4223 Q39.5611 FA39.864Women's K-1 500 m 1:54.765 4 Q 1:56.155 2 FA 1:54.372 Aimee FisherKayla ImrieJaimee LovettCaitlin RyanWomen's K-4 500 m 1:33.782 6 Q 1:34.778 2 FA 1:38.198 5 Qualification Legend: FA = Qualify to final (medal); FB = Qualify to final B (non-medal)

Cycling

Road New Zealand riders qualified for the following quota places in the men's and women's Olympic road race by virtue of their best national ranking in the 2015 UCI Oceania Tour (for men), and top 22 in the 2016 UCI World Ranking (for women).

AthleteEventTimeRank George BennettMen's road race6:21:5433 Zac WilliamsDid not finish Linda VillumsenWomen's road race 3:56:34 23Women's time trial 44:54.71 6

Track Following the completion of the 2016 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, New Zealand riders accumulated spots in both men's and women's team pursuit, and men's and women's team sprint, as well as both the men's and women's omnium. As a result of their place in the men's and women's team sprint, New Zealand was assured of its right to enter two riders in both men's and women's sprint and men's and women's keirin. The NZOC confirmed the first four cyclists on 7 April 2016.

Sprint AthleteEventQualificationRound 1Repechage 1Round 2Repechage 2QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalTimeSpeed (km/h)RankOppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)RankEddie DawkinsMen's sprint9.89572.764 10 QLLDid not advance Sam Webster9.88072.874 9 QW 10.15970.873LLDid not advance9th place finalL12Natasha HansenWomen's sprint10.871 NR 66.231 7 QW 11.40063.157L LDid not advance 9th place finalW 11.795 9Olivia Podmore11.31563.632 23 did not advance

Team sprint AthleteEventQualificationSemifinalsFinalTimeSpeed (km/h)RankOppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)RankOppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)RankEddie DawkinsEthan MitchellSam WebsterMen's team sprint42.67363.2712 QW 42.535 63.4771 FAL 42.54263.466Natasha HansenOlivia PodmoreWomen's team sprint34.34652.4079 did not advance Qualification legend: FA=Gold medal final; FB=Bronze medal final

Pursuit AthleteEventQualificationSemifinalsFinalTimeRankOpponentResultsRankOpponentResultsRankPieter BullingAaron GateRegan GoughDylan KennettHayden RoulstonMen's team pursuit 3:55.977 4 Q3:55.654 43:56.753 4Rushlee BuchananLauren EllisJaime NielsenRacquel SheathGeorgia WilliamsWomen's team pursuit 4:20.061 5 Q4:17.592 4 4:18.459 4

Keirin AthleteEvent1st RoundRepechage2nd RoundFinalRankRankRankRank Eddie DawkinsMen's keirin 4 R 3 did not advance Sam Webster 1 Q 6 FB 7 Natasha HansenWomen's keirin 3 R 2 did not advance Olivia Podmore R 5 did not advance

Omnium AthleteEventScratch raceIndividual pursuitElimination raceTime trialFlying lapPoints raceTotal pointsRankRankPointsTimeRankPointsRankPointsTimeRankPointsTimeRankPointsPointsRank Dylan KennettMen's omnium 5 32 4:20.180 6 30 17 8 1:00.923 1 40 12.506 1 40 −7 15 143 8 Lauren EllisWomen's omnium 5 32 3:33.221 6 30 11 20 36.427 11 20 14.574 14 14 73 2 189 4

Mountain biking