With a debrief still to come, there’s no hint of ruling out the job again in Los Angeles in 2028, even with the possibility, that with the addition of cricket, squash and other aspects, the size of the New Zealand team could grow another 20 per cent to more than 250 competitors.
Avery is now well established in Hawke’s Bay, where he moved in 2008 as father Sir Graeme Avery grew the Silent Estate vineyards and winery at Bridge Pa (of which Nigel Avery became CEO), an association that has led to the development of the Hawke’s Bay Community Fitness Centre, high-performance centre and regional aquatic centre in Hastings.
Hawke’s Bay had (a probable record) eight athletes at the games, with the best outcomes being Emma Twigg’s single sculls rowing silver medal and Aimee Fisher’s fourth placing behind gold-medal winning teammate Lisa Carrington in the women’s K100 women’s canoe sprint.
Avery, whose wife Shelley and daughters Blaise, Hunter and Neve were all in Paris, says that, with more than 50 staff to assist, along with the individual coaching and managing of the sports, it was about pulling the different backgrounds together to create a team culture.
Possibly the most pleasing aspect was the team’s embracing of the culture. Avery said there were many who felt it contributed to New Zealand’s 20 medals, including 10 gold, and international media crowning the Kiwis “the” team of the games.
Meanwhile, Avery has some title-winning to think about closer to home. Daughter Hunter was in a Havelock North High School’s 4x100m relay team that he coached to win the Junior national secondary schools title last year, and is the basis of the team he hopes can win the Senior title this year.
As for mixing Olympic team duties and running a mortgage business, he reckons they’re the same, all about helping people achieve their goals, and the enjoyment of helping get them over the line.