New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

competed at the

2016 Summer Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for disabled sports, athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, fro ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016. It was the nation's thirteenth appearance at the Summer Paralympics, having made its debut in

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and appeared in every edition since. The 31-member delegation collected 21 medals at the Games: nine gold, five silver and seven bronze. This was the second-largest number of medals won by New Zealand behind the 1984 Games, while the number of gold medals achieved equalling the record of nine achieved at the 1996 Games. The medals won exceeded

High Performance Sport New Zealand Sport New Zealand (Sport NZ) ( Māori: ''Ihi Aotearoa'') is a New Zealand Crown entity responsible for governing sport and recreation in New Zealand. Sport NZ believes sport is an integral part of New Zealand's culture and way of life. The or ...

's target of 18 medals overall, but fell short of the second target of 12 gold medals.

Swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

and

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

dominated the medal tally with ten and nine medals respectively; the remaining two medals were both achieved in

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from ...

. Swimmer Sophie Pascoe achieved three gold medals and two silver medals, taking her total medal haul to nine golds and six silvers and overtaking

Eve Rimmer Eva Marion "Eve" Rimmer née Davies (3 April 1937 – 23 November 1996) was a New Zealand Paralympic athlete. She was born in Whanganui, New Zealand and became one of New Zealand's greatest paraplegic athletes, winning 32 medals – including ...

to become New Zealand's most decorated Paralympian. Her silver medal in the 50 m freestyle S10 is New Zealand's 200th overall Paralympic medal. Fellow swimmers Mary Fisher,

Nikita Howarth Nikita Stevie Howarth (born 24 December 1998) is a New Zealand para-cyclist and para-swimmer. She became New Zealand's youngest ever Paralympian after being selected for the 2012 Summer Paralympics, aged 13 years 8 months. She again represent ...

and

Cameron Leslie Cameron Leslie (born 17 January 1990) is a New Zealand paralympics swimmer and wheelchair rugby player. Career Leslie was a student at Auckland University of Technology and has a quadruple limb deficiency. He won the gold medal in the men ...

won single gold medals, with Leslie completing a hat-trick with his third consecutive gold medal in the 150 m individual medley SM4. Sprinter Liam Malone won gold medals in the 200 m and 400 m T44 events, while fellow athlete

Anna Grimaldi Anna Grimaldi (born 12 February 1997) is a New Zealand para-athlete, primarily competing in the long jump and sprint events. She has won two gold medals at Paralympics in the women's long jump: at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, a ...

won the gold medal in the long jump T47.

Medallists

Unless otherwise stated, all dates and times are in

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( UTC−3), fifteen hours behind

New Zealand Standard Time Time in New Zealand is divided by law into two standard time zones. The main islands use New Zealand Standard Time (NZST), 12 hours in advance of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) / military M (Mike), while the outlying Chatham Islands use Ch ...

(

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Delegation

GGNZ Official Presentation of the Rio 2016 NZ Paralympics Team

Paralympics New Zealand Paralympics New Zealand (PNZ) is the National Paralympic Committee in New Zealand for the Paralympic Games movement. It oversees the means by which New Zealand participates at the Summer Paralympics and the Winter Paralympics. PNZ is affili ...

confirmed a team of 29 athletes, 17 male and 14 female, and two cycling pilots (both female) to compete in six sports. Ten competitors had attended previous Paralympic games, with the remaining 21 made their Paralympics debut. Returning gold medallists included swimmers Mary Fisher,

and Sophie Pascoe, sports shooter Michael Johnson, and tandem cycling pilot Laura Thompson. Javelin thrower Holly Robinson, ranked number one in the world entering the games, was selected as the country's flagbearer for the opening ceremony. The median age of the New Zealand delegation was 25 years. Fifteen-year-old swimmer

Tupou Neiufi Tupou Neiufi (born 15 June 2001) is a New Zealand para-swimmer who represented her country at the 2016 Summer Paralympics and the 2018 Commonwealth Games. She won a silver medal at the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships and gold at the 202 ...

was New Zealand's youngest competitor, while 58-year-old sailor

Chris Sharp Larry Christopher Sharp (born July 17, 1973) is an American musician, guitarist, singer, and record producer who participated in the Grammy Award-winning soundtrack of ''O Brother, Where Art Thou?''. He is considered to be an accomplished guit ...

was the oldest competitor.

Support staff and officials

Retired wheelchair racer Ben Lucas was appointed New Zealand's

chef de mission In diplomatic usage, head of mission (HOM) or chief of mission (COM) from the French "chef de mission diplomatique" (CMD) is the head of a diplomatic representation, such as an ambassador, high commissioner, nuncio, chargé d'affaires, permanent ...

for the 2016 Paralympic Games. Lucas had previously represented New Zealand as an athlete at the

1994 Commonwealth Games The 1994 Commonwealth Games (French: ''XVéme Jeux du Commonwealth'') were held in Victoria, British Columbia, from 18 to 28 August 1994. Ten types of sports were featured at the Victoria Games: athletics, aquatics, badminton, boxing, cycling ...

, and the

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone o ...

and

2000 Summer Paralympics The 2000 Summer Paralympic Games or the XI Summer Paralympics were held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, between 18 and 29 October. The Sydney Paralympics was last time that the Summer Paralympics which were organized by two different ...

. The New Zealand delegation also included Doping Control Officer Daniel Mulholland from Upper Hutt. He was the only representative from Drug Free Sport NZ in Rio.

Funding

(HPSNZ) invested $12.7 million in Paralympic sports and athletes over the 2013–16 funding cycle, of which $7.5 million was core funding to national sports organisations and Paralympics New Zealand (PNZ) while the remaining $5.2 million was mainly in the form of grants and tertiary scholarships to individual athletes. These totals include funding for non-Paralympic events such as world championships as well as the

2014 Winter Paralympics The 2014 Winter Paralympics (russian: Зимние Паралимпийские игры 2014, Zimniye Paralimpiyskiye igry 2014), the 11th Paralympic Winter Games, and also more generally known as the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, were a ...

Media coverage

Attitude Pictures and

Television New Zealand , type = Crown entity , industry = Broadcast television , num_locations = New Zealand , location = Auckland, New Zealand , area_served = Nationally (New Zealand) and some Pacific Island nations such as the Cook Islands, Fiji, and the Solo ...

hold the New Zealand coverage rights for the 2016 Paralympics. Live and delayed coverage screened on TVNZ's

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are r ...

channel, with a daily highlights show on TV One and on-demand highlights through TVNZ on Demand and Attitude Live.

Athletics

New Zealand achieved two silver medals at the

2015 IPC Athletics World Championships The 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships were a Paralympic track and field meet organized by the World Para Athletics subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee. The event was the 7th edition of what is now known as the World Para ...

, earning the nation two qualification slots at the Rio Paralympics. Paralympics New Zealand confirmed a team of six track and field athletes on 23 May 2016, with an additional two athletes named on 7 July 2016.

Track

Field

Canoeing

New Zealand was awarded a slot in the para-canoe competitionas a result of the IPC reallocating slots from the banned Russian delegation.

Cycling

Outside Paralympic area for 2016 Games 05

With one pathway for qualification being one highest ranked NPCs on the UCI Para-Cycling male and female Nations Ranking Lists on 31 December 2014, New Zealand qualified for the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio, assuming they continued to meet all other eligibility requirements. Paralympics New Zealand confirmed seven cyclists, including two sighted pilots, on 9 May 2016. The team includes sighted pilot Laura Thompson, who won three medals with

Phillipa Gray Phillipa Gray (born 16 February 1989 in Thames, New Zealand) is a New Zealand Paralympic cyclist. Gray, who is sight and hearing impaired from Usher syndrome, won a gold, silver and bronze medal, with pilot Laura Thompson in the cycling at ...

in 2012, and 2008 athletics silver medallist turned cyclist Kate Horan. An eighth cyclist, Fraser Sharp, was added to the team on 30 August 2016 as a result of the IPC reallocating slots from the banned Russian delegation. ;Men ;Road ;Track ;Women ;Road ;Track

Sailing

One pathway for qualifying for Rio involved having a boat have top seven finish at the 2015 Combined World Championships in a medal event where the country had nor already qualified through via the 2014 IFDS Sailing World Championships. New Zealand qualified for the 2016 Games under this criterion in the Sonar event with an eighth-place finish overall and the third country who had not qualified via the 2014 Championships. They qualified a second boat in the SKUD 18 event with a twelfth-place finish overall and the fourth country who had not qualified via the 2014 Championships. The boat was crewed by Tim Dempsey and Gemma Fletcher. Paralympics New Zealand announce the first three sailors to compete in the Sonar keelboat on 3 March 2016.

Shooting

The first opportunity to qualify for shooting at the Rio Games took place at the 2014 IPC Shooting World Championships in Suhl. Shooters earned spots for their NPC. New Zealand earned a qualifying spot at this competition in the R5 – 10m Air Rifle Prone Mixed SH2 event as a result of the performance of Michael Johnson. The third opportunity for direct qualification for shooters to the Rio Paralympics took place at the 2015 IPC IPC Shooting World Cup in Sydney, Australia. At this competition, Jason Eales earned a qualifying spot for their country in the R5- Mixed 10m Air Rifle Prone SH2 event. The last direct qualifying event for Rio in shooting took place at the 2015 IPC Shooting World Cup in Fort Benning in November.

Greg Reid Greg Reid (born September 8, 1990) is a professional gridiron football cornerback for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He led college football in yards per punt return in 2009, and was named defensive MVP of the 2010 ...

earned a qualifying spot for their country at this competition in the R3 Mixed 10m Air Rifle Prone SH1 event. Paralympics New Zealand confirmed Michael Johnson, Jason Eales and Greg Reid to compete at the Games on 14 June 2016.

Swimming

Swimming got a bump in funding through their NPC and the national swimming federation to help with New Zealand swimming readiness in Rio. The top two swimmers in each event at the

2015 IPC Swimming World Championships The 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships was an international swimming competition for athletes with a disability. It was held in Glasgow, United Kingdom and took place from 13 to 19 July. Around 580 athletes from around 70 countries competed at ...

in Glasgow earned a qualification slot for their NPC at the 2016 Summer Paralympics. Five swimmers earned fourteen gold and silver medals for New Zealand, earning the nation five qualification slots. Paralympics New Zealand confirmed a team of seven swimmers on 5 May 2016. The team includes three 2012 gold medalists: Mary Fisher,

and Sophie Pascoe. On 13 May 2016, an eighth swimmer, Hamish McLean, was added to the team.

was added to the team on 9 August 2016 after Bryall McPherson withdrew from participation due to illness and injury. ;Men ;Women

References

{{NPCin2016SummerParalympics Nations at the 2016 Summer Paralympics

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

2016 in New Zealand sport