Our Olympic hopes

By SUZANNE MCFADDEN

ARCHERY

Ken Uprichard, Peter Ebden

Two of the youngest athletes in the New Zealand Olympic team, Uprichard and Ebden will have to be at their very best to make the final shoot-off.

Foreigner to watch: Triple gold medallist Kim Soo-nyung, out of retirement to lead the South Korean assault.

ATHLETICS

Michael Aish - 10,000m

Craig Barrett - 50km walk

Chantal Brunner - long jump

Chris Donaldson - 100m, 200m

Beatrice Faumuina - discus

Toni Hodgkinson - 800m, 1500m

Glenn Howard - high jump

Tasha Williams - hammer throw

Ian Winchester - discus

The smallest track and field team since 1988. Faumuina is New Zealand's best-performed athlete in a decade, but she will need to pull out a big throw in Sydney to make the dais. Walker Barrett promises much in a gruelling event difficult to pick.

Foreigner to watch: Marion Jones, sprinting and leaping for five golds.

BASKETBALL

MEN

Pero Cameron, Mark Dickel, Paul Henare, Robert Hickey, Phill Jones, Ralph Lattimore, Sean Marks, Kirk Penney, Peter Pokai, Tony Rampton, Brad Riley, Nenad Vucinic

WOMEN

Kirstin Daly, Gina Farmer, Sally Farmer, Rebecca Cotton, Donna Loffhagen, Tania Brunton, Leanne Walker, Julie Ofsoski, Leone Patterson, Dianne L'ami, Belinda Colling, Megan Campain

Both teams were given automatic Olympic entry as the Oceania representatives. The Tall Blacks have had a stunning build-up to the Games, but the opposition gets tougher from here on.

Foreigners to watch: Have the Dream Team, without the rock stars, still got what it takes?

BOXING

Angus Shelford - super-heavyweight

Shelford was the only Kiwi to qualify for the Olympics at the Oceania championships. The new electronic scoring system could help Shelford, who has a strong counter-punch.

Foreigner to watch: Can Cuban Felix Savon make it three-in-a-row Olympic heavyweight golds?

CYCLING

TRACK

Anthony Peden - kieren, sprint

Gary Anderson - team pursuit

Lee Vertongen - team pursuit

Tim Carswell - team pursuit

Greg Henderson - team pursuit

Brendon Cameron - team pursuit

Matthew Sinton - kilo

Glen Thomson - points race

Sarah Ulmer - points race, individual pursuit

Fiona Ramage - 500m, sprint

ROAD

Chris Jenner, Julian Dean, Glen Mitchell, Scott Guyton, Susy Pryde, Jacinta Coleman, Rosalind Reekie-May

MOUNTAIN BIKE

Pryde

Kashi Leuchs

After an excellent stamina-building season on the road in the United States, Sarah Ulmer is the best bet for a medal in either of her two track events, while the team pursuiters are strong contenders for a top-five finish. Susy Pryde could do better off-road than on in the mountain-bike race.

Foreigner to watch: Tour de France king Lance Armstrong aiming to conquer Sydney roads in the individual time trial.

EQUESTRIAN

Three-day eventing:

Vaughn Jefferis (Bounce)

Andrew Nicholson (New York, Dawdle)

Paul O'Brien (Enzed)

Blyth Tait (Ready Teddy, Welton Envoy)

Mark Todd (Diamond Hall Red, Eye Spy II)

Showjumping:

Peter Breakwell (Leonson)

Bruce Goodin (Lenaro)

Dressage:

Kallista Field (Waikare)

No one in the New Zealand Olympic team has been more troubled than the world champion three-day eventers. But after tabloid scandal, horse injury and fatality, the Kiwis could be a tighter-knit team for it all. Todd will be a marked man, but is still a candidate for a third gold to end his competitive career.

Foreigners to watch: The Australian three-day eventing team, going for a third-straight Olympic title in their own back paddock.

GYMNASTICS

Laura Robertson - women's artistic

David Phillips - men's artistic

Both New Zealand gymnasts have been troubled by injuries in the lead-up to Sydney, but neither has dreamed of making a final.

Foreigner to watch: Russian Alexei Nemov, who hauled home six medals from Atlanta.

HOCKEY

Sandy Bennett, Helen Clarke, Kylie Foy (captain), Anne-Marie Irving, Anna Lawrence, Skippy McGregor, Suzie Pearce, Rachel Petrie, Moira Senior, Mandy Smith, Tina Bell-Kake, Kate Trolove, Caryn Paewai, Michelle Turner, Diana Weavers, Jenny Duck

Ranked sixth in the world, the New Zealand women are medal contenders. Their telling match could be their first, against close rivals Germany. A late change in captaincy should not upset the team.

Foreigners to watch: The Hockeyroos, Australia's golden girls, even though New Zealand proved they are not invincible.

JUDO

Daniel Gowing - men's under 100kg

Tim Slyfield - men's under 81kg

Brendon Crooks - men's under 60kg

Fiona Iredale - women's under 78kg

Gowing has been to an Olympics and thrives on the big events. But the Kiwis could struggle at this level.

Foreigner to watch: Japan's four-time world women's champion Ryoko Tamura, twice denied Olympic gold in the last eight years.

ROWING

Rob Waddell - men's single sculls

Sonia Waddell - women's single sculls

Rob Hellstrom - coxless four

Toni Dunlop - coxless four

Scott Brownlee - coxless four

Dave Schaper - coxless four

Waddell, quite easily the best single sculler in the world today, should not be beaten at his first Olympics. The coxless four continue to get faster, but they are in the toughest rowing event at the Games.

Foreigner to watch: Evergreen Englishman Steven Redgrave goes for his fifth-straight gold, up against the Kiwis in the coxless four.

SHOOTING

Brant Woodward - trap

Victor Shaw - trap

Desmond Coe - double trap

Brian Thomson - skeet

Geoffrey Jukes - skeet

Teresa Borrell - trap

Tania Corrigan - air pistol, 25m pistol.

New Zealand have not won an Olympic shooting medal since 1968, even though our shooters have had plenty of success at Commonwealth Games. Borrell, in the women's trap, is also a top New Zealand sailor.

Foreigner to watch: Pistol packing Russian Marina Logvinenko, the most successful women's shooter in Olympic history.

SOFTBALL

Gina Weber, Ruta Lealamanua, Fiona Timu, Cindy Potae, Helen Townsend, Jaye Bailey, Rhonda Hira, Kiri Shaw, Char Pouaka, Lisa Kersten, Jackie Smith, Melisa Upu, Zavana Aranga, Kim Dermott, Melanie Hulme

New Zealand would be surprise medallists in Sydney. Even with the return of legendary pitcher Gina Weber, the side lacks pitching power.

Foreigners to watch: Defenders US, led by feared all-rounder Lisa Fernandez.

SWIMMING

Monique Robins - 100m freestyle

Dean Kent - 400m individual medley

Steven Ferguson - 100m breaststroke

Jonathan Duncan - 400m freestyle

Elizabeth van Welie - 200m butterfly

Scott Talbot-Cameron - 200m backstroke

Helen Norfolk - 400m individual medley

Vivienne Rignall - 50m freestyle

A young team with their goals set for the next Commonwealth Games, Norfolk and Kent are the best chances to make a semifinal.

Foreigner to watch: Ian Thorpe, already dubbed the Tiger Woods of the pool by his own coach.

TABLE TENNIS

Peter Jackson - men's singles

Li Chun Li - women's singles, doubles

Karen Li - women's singles, doubles

The Li sisters, competing at an Olympics together for the first time, could pull off some upsets in the women's doubles event.

TRIATHLON

Hamish Carter, Craig Watson, Ben Bright, Evelyn Williamson

World No 1 Carter has to be the favourite for triathlon's Olympic debut. Williamson, whose form has improved after a month in the Swiss mountains, will go it alone in the women's race - the first medal event of the 2000 Games.

Foreigner to watch: Women's world No 1 Australian Loretta Harrop, who survived injury and a selection appeal, to get this far.

WRESTLING

Rasoul Armani - Greco-Roman 63kg

Jothan Pellew - Greco-Roman 54kg

Martin Liddle - freestyle 54kg

The Greco-Roman wrestlers have had turmoil in their camp, dumping their coach three weeks before the Games. Armani, a former Iranian soldier, became a New Zealander days before the Olympic qualifying event.

WEIGHTLIFTING

Nigel Avery - men's 105kg+

Olivia Baker - women's 75kg+

Young lifter Baker has the talent to make the top 10, but she has struggled to put on weight to help her lifting. Avery, who has represented New Zealand in three sports, is in the toughest Olympic class.
Foreigner to watch: The world's strongest man, Olympic champion Andrei Chermerkin, still unbeatable in the super-heavyweights.

YACHTING

Dan Slater - 49er

Nathan Handley - 49er

Melissa Henshaw - women's 470

Jenny Egnot - women's 470

Simon Cooke - men's 470

Peter Nicholas - men's 470

Sarah Macky - Europe

Clifton Webb - Finn

Barbara Kendall - women's boards

Aaron McIntosh - men's boards

Peter Fox - Laser

Rod Davis - Soling

Don Cowie - Soling

Alan Smith - Soling

Gavin Brady - Star

Jamie Gale - Star

Chris Dickson - Tornado

Glen Sowry - Tornado

Sydney Harbour is like a second home for Kiwi yachties, who have medal hopes in almost every class. The most obvious are the boardsailors, who won the final dress rehearsal last month. Look out for Slater and Handley to make a splash in the new Olympic class, the speedy 49er.

Foreigner to watch: men's boardsailor Lars Kleppich, like a shark in home waters.