KEY POINTS:
AQUATIC
The sport which perhaps most felt the full force of the global advances.
Seven qualified for individual events and six returned personal bests. You can't ask much more, plus the men's 4 x 100m relay chopped five seconds off their national record and finished fifth in their final, aka the Phelps finale. New Zealand's swimmers are making progress _ the problem is swimming's powerhouses are advancing more rapidly.
Synchronised sisters Lisa and Nina Daniels finished a disappointing second to last in a field of 24.
ATHLETICS
A golden glow at last for the premier Olympic event. Valerie Vili's gold and Nick Willis' bronze make this New Zealand most successful Games in the main stadium since 1976. A handful of other bright performers, including Kimberley Smith's ninth and Nina Rillstone's 16th, but some blanks were fired too _ Beatrice Faumuina, Stuart Farquhar, James Dolphin and Adrian Blincoe's inability to show their best was disappointing. Overall, though, an A+.
BADMINTON
No joy, and no surprise in that. John Moodie drew the fourth seed Chen Jin of China, losing in straight games. Craig Cooper and Renee Flavell were dispatched in similar manner by a Korean combination in the first round. It's all down to the draws, and New Zealand got it tough.
BASKETBALL
The Tall Ferns beat Mali narrowly in their opener, which was the game they had targeted.
After that it was beyond them, with successive losses to Spain, China, the Czech Republic and the United States. They didn't get close in any, a 17-point deficit against China their best effort.
CANOEING
Entered four events and made three finals, the odd one out being Erin Taylor, who was always being prepared more with London 2012 in mind. Ben Fouhy managed fourth in his final and Steven Ferguson and Mike Walker were also out of the medals. Ferguson has his second final, the K1 500m today. Slalom kayaker Luuka Jones struggled at her first Games but London beckons for the 19-year-old.
CYCLING
On the track, cycling would rank only second to rowing in terms of delivery. Medals to Hayden Roulston and the pursuit team, a fourth to Alison Shanks, 10th to Greg Henderson, and 9th in the madison, made the Laoshan Velodrome a happy hunting ground. Road results were less impressive, but you couldn't question the effort of Julian Dean (54th) and Joanne Kiesanowski (28th). BMX hope Sarah Walker finished fourth and Marc Willers crashed out twice to miss his final. Mountain bikers Kaschi Leuchs and Rosara Joseph ride today.
EQUESTRIAN
The return of the great man, Mark Todd, was supposed to be one of the tales of the Games, but a tough cross-country course squeezed the life out of that story. The team finished fifth. The most heartening showjumping result came from Kirk Webby who was called in as a late replacement and then rode all the way to the final.
FOOTBALL (women)
Led Japan 2-0 in their opener before drawing 2-2. Beaten by a single goal by formidable Norway before conceding four against gold medallists the United States. They were competitive and get a pass mark. Shame about those two Japanese goals, though.
FOOTBALL (men)
Began with a terrific 1-1 draw with China, having been reduced to 10 men before half time. Then got whipped by Brazil and were edged out by Belgium when a win would have advanced them to the quarter-finals. Overall, a fair return.
HOCKEY (men)
Will rue the final seconds of their pool match against Spain when they let a goal in to go down 0-1. After starting so promisingly with a win over Korea, their medal hopes vanished. Finished on a bittersweet high routing Pakistan in the play-off for seventh.
HOCKEY (women)
Missed the goal completely, losing all six matches. Woeful return.
ROWING
You can't sniff at a gold medal and two bronzes from five finals. There had been hopes for more of the golds, but that's to overlook the quality of the fields _ and and doesn't take into account Mahe Drysdale's illness which surely deprived him of the single sculls gold. Georgina and Caroline Evers-Swindell's repeat gold was the highlight.
SAILING
Tom Ashley showed there's no country better at boardsailing than New Zealand. His gold propelled New Zealand out of the Olympic sailing medal doldrums. Andrew Murdoch recovered after some early shockers and veteran Barbara Kendall always threatening to add to her medal collection. And what about the 470s _17 years old and 11th out of 29. Not bad.
SHOOTING
One success, three flops was a poor return. The one shining light was the youngest of the quartet, smallbore man Robbie Eastham from Balclutha, who was a point off making the shootoff in the 50m prone.
TAEKWONDO
A first-round loss for Logan Campbell _ unluckily drawing the world No 1 from Chinese-Taipei _ however, Robyn Cheong did better. She won her first bout against an Ivory Coast opponent before going down to a Korean in the quarter-finals. Luckless Matthew Beach takes on the world No 5 from China in his first round bout today. Their chances, like badminton's, depended on the draws.
TENNIS
Eventual first round exit from one of the Kiwi sporting success stories of 2008, Marina Erakovic. The loss in her rain-delayed Olympic debut hurt her deeply.
TRIATHLON
Mr Reliable, Bevan Docherty, maintained his place on the podium, albeit moving down one step from silver in Athens to bronze in Beijing. A terrific, patient race and one that left him keen to come back for London to complete the set of medals. Kris Gemmell and Shane Reed played important roles helping Docherty, but finished 39th and 34th. It was heartbreak for Sam Warriner. A consistent top three competitor this year, a trip at the bike transition left her 16th. Still, with Debbie Tanner (10th) and Andrea Hewitt (8th), having three finishers inside the top 16 is more than respectable.
WEIGHTLIFTING
Both Mark Spooner and Richard Patterson finished 21st in their divisions, but the real test for them will be translating the experience to results at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
* Courtesy of Television New Zealand, www.tvnz.co.nz/beijing2008.
