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NZ 13th in Tokyo medal table, Carrington beats 174 nations

August 8, 2021
The Tokyo Olympics medal table at the conclusion of action.

New Zealand's record medal tally this year was good enough to finish 13th on the Tokyo Olympics medal table with Lisa Carrington's historic haul good enough to rank her 33rd if she were her own nation.

The final events for the Tokyo Olympics have played out this evening with Serbia winning the final gold of the Games with a 13-10 win over Greece in the men's water polo competition.

With the dust settled, New Zealand managed to finish 13th with seven golds, six silvers and seven bronze medals in total.

It is Aotearoa's third-best finish since sending our first Olympic team to the 1920 Antwerp Games, with the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles still our best with an eight-placed finish and, coincidentally, Tokyo in 1964 our second best effort where we finished 12th.

Sports Minister Grant Robertson praised the New Zealand team for their efforts this year in a statement, saying he was "enormously proud" of the Kiwis involved on behalf of the nation.

“They competed in Tokyo without their friends and families on the sidelines of their events, which would have made it even more challenging. In their absence, the support staff on the ground have played a very important role in our success at these Games.”

Lisa Carrington became New Zealand's most decorated Olympian when she won the K1 500m at the Tokyo Olympics. It was her third gold of the Games and the fifth of her career.

At the top of the board, USA pipped China to take the No.1 spot with 39 gold medals - one more than the Asia powerhouse.

Host Japan came in third further back with 27 gold medals while Great Britain and the Russian Olympic Committee's combined efforts rounded out the top five.

One large part of New Zealand's success this year was kayak sprinter Carrington who claimed three gold medals in the K1 200m, K1 500m and K2 500m with Caitlin Regal playing a key role with the latter event.

Interestingly, had Carrington represented her own country in Tokyo, her three gold medals would have seen her ranked 32rd, finishing higher than 174 of the nations present including the likes of Georgia, Turkey, Ireland and Austria.

Further down the ladder, Fiji came in tied at 59th after their gold and bronze medals in rugby sevens.

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