David Leggat: Kiwis find little Olympic warmth at top level

Expect a change in philosophy from the New Zealand Olympic Committee towards the next Winter Games.

If there's not, they will have some explaining to do.

Having sent away its largest contingent to a Winter Olympics, the NZOC cannot be impressed by the return.

They are copping flak for sending athletes away who turned in performances not even close to acceptable, and while they have a different assessment stance towards winter sports than the summer equivalent, they still wanted a better return than Vancouver has provided.

First the good bits.

Skeleton racer Ben Sandford finished 11th in a discipline where hundredths of seconds can be the difference between half a dozen placings. He was 1.3s off fifth place; less than 3s behind the winner. Justified his place? Absolutely.

Snowboarder Kendall Brown, despite a dislocated shoulder, finished a courageous 15th. She is 20 and was 25th at Torino four years ago. All things being equal, she'll be in Sochi, Russia, in 2014, and rightly so.

And the rest?

Tim Cafe finished 38th out of 64 in the Super G. He's 22 and should come again.

Skater Shane Dobbin, the first New Zealand athlete to compete in Vancouver, was 17th in the 5000m out of 28. It was not his preferred event, which is double that length. He's been in the sport just two years, and is worth watching for 2014.

Otherwise it was largely disappointing, not for a failure to get remotely close to medals, which in the main is unrealistic. More for inability to perform to a standard which justified spending public money on their behalf.

That's the nub. Sparc forked out about $1 million on this team. Part of that is with investment in mind, and that means Sochi. But even so, athletes withdrawing before their events, others finishing at the tail of large fields, is not what they would have expected.

New Zealand's most medalled Olympian, canoeing great Ian Ferguson, let fly a few days ago.

"It is not a game - it is not a free gift for you to become an Olympian. You have to deserve it," he said.

"When you are way down the line it's hard to justify being there."

Too many athletes were, pre-Vancouver, of a view that it was good preparation for a big push in 2014. Is that a good enough reason to be going to a Games?

Certainly the NZOC adopts a tougher stance on summer Olympic qualification than the winter version. At least in part that is to ensure there is a pathway for the ice and snow athletes, if they are good enough.

Should that change? Should that door be shut? No. Closed a little?Yes.

NZOC boss Barry Maister pointed out that 25 per cent (that's four athletes) made the top 16, better than Torino, but still less than they wanted. Top 10 finishes? None.

All this should make grim reading for those wanting to put cross country skiing and biathlon on the map, while skier cross competitor Mitchey Greig's inability to get over the first jump was almost embarrassing.

"C'est la vie," the Queenstown 21-year-old said, which, possibly unintentionally, sounded rather casual.

NZOC should leave open the prospect of representation in those events, but with far tougher questions asked in terms of qualification.

And its focus should sharpen on those sports it believes New Zealand can compete in with distinction.

It's all well and good wanting to get more Olympic diversity out of our athletes, to spread the nation's wings if you will.

New Zealand has had only one Winter Games medallist, alpine skier Annelise Coberger 18 years ago.

The country is no closer to doubling that tally than it was four years ago.