KEY POINTS:
BEIJING - What was dubbed Super Saturday, what was meant to be New Zealand's greatest day at any Olympic Games, now looms as Sinister Saturday.
In three hours tomorrow - from 7.50pm to 10.50pm (NZT) - New Zealand will row for five medals at Shunyi and contest at least one track cycling final at Laoshan Velodrome.
Then all eyes will turn to the Bird's Nest, where at 1.10am world shot put champion Valerie Vili will try to win the first New Zealand track and field gold in 32 years.
Until Wednesday the script ran as follows: wave after wave of black-singleted crews snap up medals, points racer Greg Henderson or pursuiter Hayden Roulston win a cycling medal, Vili takes gold.
Once the splashing stopped and the dust settled, New Zealand would have beaten its Olympic record of two golds in one day, and topped its best one-day tally of four medals, or so the story ran.
But confidence of an unprecedented medal haul from rowing wavered on Wednesday when single sculler Emma Twigg missed her final, an unwell Mahe Drysdale all but missed his, and the coxless four was eliminated too.
Even crews which made finals did not impress. None won their semifinals, so while the potential for medals remained, the potential for zilch reared its ugly head.
Roulston, fourth at the world championships this year, and Henderson are no medal certainties, but Vili is a big meet thrower, she wins when it counts - at the Commonwealth Games, at the world championships.
Vili, 23, comes to the Games ranked second to Nadzeya Ostapchuk of Belarus, who has thrown .85 metres further than her this year, and boasts four 2008 throws better than Vili's best of 20.13m.
New Zealand have won two gold medals in a single day four times:
* September 22, 1960 at Rome when middle distance runner Peter Snell won the 800m and Murray Halberg the 5000m.
* October 21, 1964 at Tokyo, Snell in the 1500m, and Flying Dutchman yachties Helmer Pedersen and Earle Wells.
* August 10, 1984 at Los Angeles, canoeist Ian Ferguson in the K1 500m, Ferguson and Paul MacDonald, K2 500m.
* August 11, 1984 at Los Angeles, canoeist Alan Thompson, K1 1000m, and Thompson, Ferguson, MacDonald and Grant Bramwell in the K4 1000m.
New Zealand claimed its best haul of four medals in one day at Seoul on September 24, 1988 when swimmers Anthony Mosse and Paul Kingsman, single sculler Eric Verdonk and coxless pair Lynley Hannen and Nikki Payne all won bronze.
Ferguson, who featured in two of New Zealand's most golden days, told NZPA he would be at Shunyi, urging the rowers on.
While he would like nothing more than to see them string together a series of medal performances, he said it was far tougher than people imagined.
"The rowers are in for quite a few chances of winning, but when racing comes at the Olympics it really is difficult to consistently come up with your good results," he said.
"The Olympics put a lot of pressure on you and people have got to be aware of that.
"I'm just hoping they do all strike it lucky and get the first couple of races underway, and get a good roll on it, then if the first couple start winning you never know what happens."
In Los Angeles, Ferguson was first to win, then the other three golds followed.
"I got the first one underway and once that happened I knew there was nothing going to stop me, I knew I was the best and the whole team sort of got in that same vibe, and we just suddenly felt invincible.
"I'm just hoping the rowers will get that too."
At Shunyi, Drysdale is first away, with women's pair Nicky Coles and Juliette Haigh next to greet the starter.
Men's pair Nathan Twaddle and George Bridgewater row next, then sculling sisters Georgina and Caroline Evers-Swindell, with Nathan Cohen and Rob Waddell in the men's double last off.
NZ OLYMPICS BEST DAYS MEDALS FACTBOX
Best days by New Zealand at the Olympic Games:
Most gold medals (2):
* September 22 1960, Rome: athletics, Peter Snell 800m, Murray Halberg 5000m.
* October 21 1964, Tokyo: athletics, Snell 1500m; yachting, Helmer Pedersen and Earle Wells, Flying Dutchman.
* August 10 1984, Los Angeles: canoeing, Ian Ferguson K1 500m, Ferguson and Paul MacDonald K2 500m.
* August 11 1984, Los Angeles: canoeing, Alan Thompson K1 1000m, Thompson, Ferguson, MacDonald and Grant Bramwell K4 1000m.
Most medals (4):
* September 24 1988, Seoul: swimming, Anthony Mosse 200m butterfly, bronze; Paul Kingsman, 200m backstroke bronze; rowing Eric Verdonk, single sculls bronze; rowing, Lynley Hannen and Nikki Payne, coxless pair bronze.
- NZPA
