KEY POINTS:
Once every four years, the world mulls over the great memories the Olympics stir for each of us.
The Games are the scene for triumph and tragedy and we all recall different moments when we think about the Olympics.
For New Zealanders, it's usually the golden victories which come flooding back to us - the rowing eight in 1976, Snell and Halberg on the track in 1960, Carter and Docherty in the 2004 triathlon, Loader in the pool in 1996.
We asked New Zealand Olympic secretary-general Barry Maister to share with us his own personal standout memories. He is steeped in the Games, not only as an administrator, but as an athlete, winning gold with the hockey team in 1976. Here, in chronological order, are Maister's key Olympic moments.
1 - The magical hour in Rome with golds to Snell and Halberg
That really kindled my passion for things Olympic, and running, a passion which persists to this day.
2 - 1968: My first Olympic involvement as a 19-year-old in the first hockey game in the Games
NZ 2 India 1. The Indians had never lost a hockey game at the Olympics!
3 - 1972: The Munich massacre in the Olympic Village
I remember being very close to the action during the hostage drama, then being in the Olympic Stadium at the memorial service for the slain athletes and hearing the passion in the singing of the German national anthem, and hearing then IOC Chief Avery Brundage declaring: "The Games will go on."
4 - 1976: The moment that changed the lives of 16 of us
Standing on the top of the Olympic dais to receive the Olympic gold medal, surrounded by an amazingly talented and close group of teammates and friends.
5 - 2004: The shot put at the site of the ancient Olympics
Sitting on the grass in the old stadium at Olympia, among the ruins of the ancient temples of Olympia, watching Valerie Vili in the shot put, and reflecting on the place, its significance in Olympic history, and how it must have been in 776BC where it all began.
