He believes the team’s results represented a fantastic performance of which we should all be proud. But his observations from the sidelines in Birmingham and his initial analysis of the New Zealand Team statistics beyond the medal count have pointed to some work-ons for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and beyond.
Eddie describes the Birmingham Games as the first real opportunity for our athletes to compete internationally in front of large crowds following COVID-19 restrictions – potentially the start and continuation of some performance momentum.
“From a personal perspective I thought win, lose or draw, athletes represented New Zealand with distinction and left mana in their wake, which is important.
“It was great to see the Kiwi athletes enjoying the performance challenge, expressing themselves and demonstrating their potential at a multi-sport event?”
Reflecting on specific results, Aaron Gates four gold medals was a standout performance for Eddie, but he also sees the results from non-Olympic sports such as Squash, Lawn Bowls and Judo as highlights of the Games.
“Notwithstanding the 20 gold medals, which I thought was fantastic, I saw margins get smaller. It’s getting harder to win and it is the little things that will matter more as we build towards Paris,” Eddie says.
He says the Commonwealth Games enables us to keep an eye on our international competitors and measure ourselves against them, which is useful.
While in Birmingham he observed some of our key competitors strategically using the Games as building blocks towards 2028 and 2032 with big teams filled with young, developing athletes. He believes there was also some excellent young talent on show for New Zealand. which augurs fairly well for 2024 and beyond.
“But the stats show that while we had 49 medals, we also had 65 finishes in 4th to 8th place. We still need to drive quality preparation so we have the ability and the mindset to get that peak performance when really it matters.
“We are getting better in this area. But one of the key elements as we head towards Paris, and world cups world champs for non-Olympic sports, is the ability for sports to deeply scrutinise their performance processes. We will continue to work with sports on this through bone deep debriefs and reviews to ensure that together we keep learning and growing.”
NZ Team Stats – Birmingham 2022
- Medals – 49 (20 gold, 12 silver, 17 bronze)
- 4th to 8th place – 65
- Personal bests – 16 (Athletics – 3, Cycling – 2, Swimming – 7, Para Swimming – 4
- Games Records – 5 (Cycling – 4, Swimming – 1)
- Average age of medallists – 26.44
- Youngest medallist – 17 (Josh Willmer – Para Swimming)
- Oldest medallist – 57 (Val Smith – Lawn Bowls)
