NZ gold medallists sport cryptic message

'Sir Ed said it best' and our golden girls have done it. Photos / Getty Images

New Zealanders winning gold medals at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi are being given t-shirts with a cryptic message.

The shirt from team management has the line "Sir Ed said it best" on the front.

Shot putter Valerie Adams, who successfully defended her title last night, sported one as she spoke to journalists today.

The other recipient has been track cyclist Alison Shanks, who won gold in the 3000m individual pursuit on Friday.

The New Zealand team's theme in New Delhi is the number 29028, the height in feet of Mt Everest, which was conquered for the first time by Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Norgay Tenzing in 1953.

After the pair made it off the summit, Sir Ed famously told fellow mountain climber George Lowe: "Well, George, we knocked the bastard off."

- NZPA