Saluting the nation's Olympians

Olympians old and not so old gathered in Auckland last night to mark the centenary of New Zealand's involvement in the Olympic Games.

More than 70 of New Zealand's 1111 Olympic Games representatives assembled at Alexandra Park for a ceremony to receive a specially designed pin to signify their part in the country's Games history. The pins feature the five Olympic rings, a silver fern and each athlete's number, allocated by the order in which they first represented New Zealand at a Games.

Among the athletes who attended last night were Sir Murray Halberg, Hamish Carter, Ian Ferguson and members of the 1976 Montreal men's hockey team, all of whom were Olympic champions.

New Zealand's first Olympian was bronze-medal-winning walker Harry Kerr, who represented Australasia at the 1908 Games in London. New Zealand's 1000th Olympian was middle distance runner Adrian Blincoe, who ran at the Beijing Games last year.