New Zealand competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. For the first time at the Olympics,

God Defend New Zealand "God Defend New Zealand" (, meaning 'New Zealand') is one of two national anthems of New Zealand, the other being "God Save the King". Legally the two have equal status, but "God Defend New Zealand" is more commonly used. Originally written as a ...

was played instead of God Save the King/Queen. The

New Zealand Olympic Committee The New Zealand Olympic Committee (before 1994, The ''New Zealand Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association'') is both the National Olympic Committee and the Commonwealth Games Association in New Zealand responsible for selecting athletes to re ...

was represented by 89 competitors, 82 men and 7 women, who took part in 63 events in 14 sports.

Medal tables

Archery

In the first modern archery competition at the Olympics, New Zealand entered one man in the competition.

Athletics

Track and road

Field

Boxing

Canoeing

Cycling

Eight cyclists represented New Zealand in 1972.

Road

;Men's individual road race

Track

;Men's 1000 m time trial ;Men's team pursuit Brent Pascoe was the reserve rider, but did not compete.

Gymnastics

Men's individual

;Apparatus qualifying and all-around Sale did not qualify for any of the apparatus finals.

Women's individual

;Apparatus qualifying and all-around Foote did not qualify for any of the apparatus finals.

Field hockey

Men's tournament

;Team roster ;Head coach

Ross Gillespie John Ross Gillespie (2 June 1935 – 29 January 2023) was a New Zealand field hockey player and coach. Gillespie represented New Zealand at the Summer Olympics twice as a player, in 1960 Summer Olympics, 1960 and 1964 Summer Olympics, 1964. He ...

;Group B ;9th / 10th Place play-off New Zealand finished the men's field hockey tournament in ninth place.

Judo

Rowing

1972 was the last year that only men competed at the Olympic rowing events. New Zealand entered boats in four of the seven events. The gold medal won by the

1972 New Zealand eight The 1972 New Zealand eight was a team of Olympic gold medallists in rowing from New Zealand, having previously won the 1971 European Rowing Championships. At the time, the eight was regarded as the blue ribbon class of rowing, and the sport st ...

is one of New Zealand's most memorable performances, and was in 2008 rated by sports journalist

Joseph Romanos Joseph Romanos (born 1957) is a New Zealand journalist, author and broadcaster focusing mainly on sport. Life and career Romanos attended St Patrick's College in Wellington. His father Richie Romanos played cricket for Wellington in the 1951� ...

as New Zealand's best ever team performance at the Olympic Games.

Sailing

Jonty Farmer, Jack Hansen, Geoff Smals and Bryan Treleaven were named as alternates but did not compete.

Shooting

Four male shooters represented New Zealand in 1972. ;Mixed 25 m rapid fire pistol ;Mixed 50 m rifle, prone ;Mixed 50 m running target

Swimming

Weightlifting

Wrestling

Officials

* Chef de Mission –

Joe McManemin Joseph de Valley McManemin (2 January 1923 – 5 August 2014) was a New Zealand athletics coach and sports administrator. Biography Born in Auckland in 1923, McManemin was educated at Auckland Grammar School and became a pharmacist, with a shop ...

* Assistant team manager – Jack Prestney * Team doctor –

Tom Anderson Thomas Anderson (born November 8, 1970) is an American technology entrepreneur and co-founder of the social networking service, social networking website Myspace, which he founded in 2003 with Chris DeWolfe. He was later president of Myspa ...

* Chaperone – Doris Fitzsimmons * Archery section manager – Jack Richards * Athletics ** Section manager –

Graham Davy Graham John Davy (4 October 1936 – 18 June 2018) was a New Zealand Sport of athletics, athlete and sports administrator. He won one national athletics title, and served as the chair of directors of the New Zealand Sports Foundation. Biography ...

** Coach – Valdemars Briedis * Boxing section manager – David Tipping * Canoeing section manager – Stan Robinson * Cycling ** Section manager – Colin Hollows ** Coach / mechanic – Bruce Goldsworthy * Field hockey ** Section manager – Merv Good ** Coach –

* Gymnastics section manager – Cameron A. R. Buchanan * Judo section manager – Jack Fielding * Rowing ** Section manager – Fred Strachan ** Coach –

Rusty Robertson Russell Robertson (1927 – 17 February 1990), known as Rusty Robertson, was a New Zealand-born, world class rowing coach of New Zealand and later, Australian national representative rowing crews. He was the national rowing coach of New Zealand ...

** Assistant coach – Ted Lindstrom * Sailing section manager – Hal Wagstaff * Shooting section manager – Hong Tse * Swimming ** Section manager – Graeme Brockett ** Coach – Pic Parkhouse * Weightlifting ** Section manager – Peter Watson ** Coach – Paul Newberry * Wrestling section manager – Art Pickering

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:New Zealand At The 1972 Summer Olympics Nations at the 1972 Summer Olympics

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...