In Auckland today there was a celebration for four Kiwi weightlifters who are all off to their first Olympic Games.
Cameron McTaggart, Megan Signal, Kanah Andrews-Nahu and David Liti were all there to celebrate their achievement which Signal admitted was “overwhelming”.
“When you finally get the confirmation you start to think about every little moment it's taken to get here,” she said.
“It's overwhelming, emotional, exciting, it's so many things but today is really special.”
“It's pretty epic, it's been a lifelong dream - ever since I can remember I've wanted to be an Olympian,” McTaggart added.
New Zealand’s weightlifting team is actually five-strong but their fifth member was a stark absence at the official announcement today.
History-maker Laurel Hubbard has continued to keep a low profile after it was announced yesterday she would be the first transgender athlete at the Olympics.
It's unlikely she'll be seen until she competes in Tokyo, but even getting her teammates to talk about her is a difficult find.
“She has a right to be in the team and that's all I can say about it,” McTaggart said.
“To be honest, I don't feel comfortable commenting about that because today is all about us and me,” Signal said.
“I don't focus on that stuff, my training is my training,” Liti added.
Former Kiwi Olympic lifter Tracey Lambrechs told 1 NEWS she suspects they may have been told to keep quiet.
“It's very hard for athletes to speak and be heard and then not dealt to,” she said.
The selection has quickly become a global discussion with people like Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and British media personality Piers Morgan all offering comments on the matter.
Sports doctor Dr John Hellemans told 1 NEWS he is very understanding and admires Hubbard's trailblazing Olympic spot but questions the science.
"There's more than testosterone, that's only part of the story," he said.
"Their frame, their bones and their levers - their arms and legs are longer."
Dr Hellemans says change is needed.
"There's something to say for strength and power and contact sports in particular that transgender athletes should have their own division."
The issue will likely die down for a month before the full weightlifting team arrives two days before their competition in Tokyo, no doubt to an international spotlight.
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