KEY POINTS:
The gold won by double scullers Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell and the bronze medals claimed by Mahe Drysdale and [pair oar] George Bridgewater and Nathan Twaddle took rowing's all-time medal tally to 16, joining yachting as New Zealand's second most successful Olympic sport.
Athletics remain at the top
of the list but pickings have been lean at recent Games. That sport's 20 medals (including nine gold) came regularly between 1952 and 1976 but since John Walker's 1500m gold in Montreal, there have been only Lorraine Moller's marathon bronze in Barcelona (1992) and now Valerie Vili's Beijing shot put gold and the 1500m bronze claimed by Nick Willis.
As one of the sports on Sparc's most-favoured list and recipient of almost $4 million in funding between 2004 to 2008, the return has been meagre.
In Beijing, the two medallists were well clear of the rest with only one other top 10 finish, Kimberley Smith's ninth in the 10,000m. Nina Rillstone, 16th in the marathon, and javelin thrower Stuart Farquhar, 20th, were the only other athletes (of the 10-strong team) to make the top 20 in their events.
Departed high-performance manager Eric Hollingsworth was criticised for his tough stance at the time of the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in excluding athletes "not up to the mark". Some of that hard-nosed attitude was perhaps needed this time.
Other sports happily on the Sparc money tree might also be fearing for their future funding.
Equestrian received almost $3 million. They did not raise a gallop in Beijing and have only Mark Todd's eventing bronze in Sydney eight years ago as their solitary medal return in the last three Games.
Hockey is in greater danger. Given a $5 million helping hand from Sparc, they came up way short. The men went close but again left empty-handed with their 1976 gold still their only return _ men or women.
The Black Sticks women face a huge rebuilding task after trailing the field and, after three one-goal losses in their first three outings, surrendered badly to lose the wooden spoon match 4-1 to unfancied South Africa.
Sparc boss Peter Miskimmin, named for the ill-fated 1980 Moscow Olympics and a member of the hockey team in Los Angeles four years later, must have some short and long-term concerns for his sport.
Canoeing, who received the least funding (less than $2 million from Sparc) continues to give hope but will be looking for better if they are to snare a bigger share of the purse.
After the burst in Los Angeles (four golds) and Seoul four years later (one gold, one silver and a bronze), there has been only Ben Fouhy's Athens silver to show for the hours of hard work put in by our kayakers.
Cycling, the greatest beneficiary in the Sparc funding stakes _ around $9.5 million _ sparked public imagination in Beijing and gave real hope that they are ready to kick on.
Sarah Ulmer's Athens gold followed by the Hayden Roulston-inspired efforts in Beijing will give Sparc little option but to go for broke, with the New Delhi Commonwealth Games, and beyond that London's 2012 Olympics, as reachable targets.
Roulston's silver in the individual pursuit was just the 15th of that colour to be won by a New Zealander.
The first was won by rowers Cyril Stiles and Fred Thompson in Los Angeles in 1932 (the only New Zealand medal at those Games). Athletics still have only Dick Quax, second in the 5000m in Montreal, as their only silver medallist. Swimming, boxing, and triathlon too have just one silver.
Only in 1920 and 1948 (forgetting Moscow) did New Zealand fail to win a medal. New Zealanders have now won 89 medals.
The race now is for New Zealand's 100th Olympic medal. The first 11 took 44 years (and nine Games). The last 11 will be, we must hope, considerably quicker, with many sports using medal success as their yardstick and means to ensure future funding.
MEDAL-WINNING OLYMPIC SPORTS
ATHLETICS209 gold, 1 silver, 10 bronze
YACHTING167 gold, 4 silver, 5 bronze
ROWING166 gold, 2 silver, 8 bronze
EQUESTRIAN9 3 gold, 2 silver, 4 bronze
CANOEING85 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze
CYCLING41 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze
BOXING31 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze
TRIATHLON31 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze
HOCKEY11 gold
SHOOTING1 1 bronze
TENNIS1 1 bronze
These tallies include three medals won by New Zealanders as members of the Australasian teams at the 1908 and 1912 Olympics.
