Olympics: Ten top Kiwi triers

By DAVID LEGGAT and EUGENE BINGHAM

Sonia Waddell

Fifth in her second straight Olympic sculling final. Not so much for her on-the-water effort but her head held high attitude after the final. No excuses, "I gave it my absolute best shot. That was me, that's what I am capable of doing".

Heelan Tompkins

The three-day-eventer silenced the whispering tongues back home who reckoned her horse, Glengarrick, was past it by finishing seventh overall in the individual competition. She was only 7.6 points behind the winner, a mere 5.4 points off the bronze.

A sparky personality, she showed that you don't need to make a permanent home in Europe to succeed in the highest class.

Julian Dean

Left to battle for himself in the road race as his team-mates were hopelessly out of their depth, Dean finished an excellent 15th.

A class act off the bike as well, a thorough professional.

Helen Norfolk

Came within .05s of making the 400m individual medley final.

The North Shore-based Cantabrian came with a late run but was beaten out of the eighth and last spot by the Korean swimmer alongside her.

That gives her a world ranking of nine and despite her despair at the finish, reason for satisfaction.

Beatrice Faumuina

Held her world ranking in the discus.

Okay, the distances were down on other years, but the opening ceremony flagbearer did make the final eight and finished seventh.

Nadine Stanton

The trap shooter reached the final six shootoff, proving what she believed all along - that she has what it takes to sit in the highest company.

Her cheerful and down-to-earth demeanour also wins points. Greg Henderson Gave himself every chance of a medal in the cycling points race before finishing an impressive fourth.

Rode a smart, tough race, ensuring he was in the frame for almost the entire gruelling journey.

Nathan Twaddle and George Bridgewater

The men's coxless pair were fourth in the final. It was Twaddle's 28th birthday and they got within .84s of the bronze with a strong display.

Good blokes, good combination, almost an outstanding result in a tough event.

Li Chunli

The table tennis player finished her fourth and almost certainly last Olympics on an ideal note, against the world No 1.

Li went down in straight games to China's Zhang Yining 11-8 12-10 11-5 11-7, but had the satisfaction of having a game point in the second game and getting more points than Zhang's opponent in the gold medal match, Kim Hyang Mi, of Korea, who managed only 19.

She was gracious, and thanked people for coming to watch and support her - and that can't be said for the vast bulk of this NZ team.

Phill Jones

The star turn for the Tall Blacks. Jones averaged 21 points a game and scored 126 points in five games. It wasn't a memorable tournament in result terms for the Tall Blacks, but it would have been worse without Reefton-born Jones' dead-eye shooting.