Cab marks start of Olympic drive

New Zealand Olympic Games as Chef de Mission Dave Currie with the cab that will be used to promote next years Olympic bid in London. Photo / Greg Bowker

New Zealand's bid for Olympic Games gold in London next year kicks off in Auckland tonight.

The 30th edition of the modern Games, dating back to 1896, starts on July 27 where New Zealand will be hoping to better the tally of nine medals won at Beijing in 2008 - three gold, two silver and four bronze.

A distinctive black London cab will be on Auckland's streets today, emblazoned with a silver fern and other New Zealand signs, before heading to other parts of the country. Four more cabs, in similar livery, are on London's streets.

Tonight's launch will reveal what the New Zealand Olympic Committee campaign towards London entails and what message it hopes will inspire the Games athletes.

Last year the NZOC sought entries for songs to be written reflecting the writers' pride in New Zealand and what it meant to be a New Zealander.

Entries have come in from a range of sources, from professional musicians to school children. An Olympic soundtrack with a selection of them will be unveiled tonight.

Five Olympic Ambassadors for New Zealand have been named: current Olympic shot put champion Valerie Adams, three former Olympic gold medallists (rower Rob Waddell, cyclist Sarah Ulmer and board sailor Barbara Kendall) and Commonwealth Games individual pursuit champion Alison Shanks.

And there are five recipients of an Olympic scholarship, worth US$29,000 ($35,950) each - sailors Peter Burling and Blair Tuke, double Commonwealth Games middle-distance silver medallist Nikki Hamblin, mountainbiker and Rhodes Scholar Rosara Joseph, triathlete Ryan Sissons and swimmer Daniel Bell.

Sporting organisations were invited to nominate athletes they felt were worthy of assistance in their preparations for London.

The New Zealand Olympic uniform won't be revealed until next year.