Being located in the remote South Pacific, New Zealanders needed to endure long sea voyages to attend the early Olympics.

The sporting rivalry between New Zealand and bigger neighbour Australia has been evident at many Olympic Games.

In 1984, some Australian media outlets poked fun at the New Zealand gold medallists, saying they had been sitting down on the job at the Los Angeles Games, where they were successful in canoeing, equestrian, rowing and sailing.

At the 1972 Summer Olympics, Bruce Biddle originally finished fourth in the cycling road race.

When the original Bronze medallist was subsequently disqualified for drug usage, Biddle should have been placed third.