Day one of London 2012 shows promise for NZ

Day one of London 2012 shows promise for NZ

Bauer a creditable 10th in cycling road race

The strength-sapping men’s cycling road race didn’t exactly go as New Zealand had hoped, but nevertheless there was still some heartening news.

New Zealand had two cyclists in the large field of 144, the veteran Greg Henderson, who was the main medal hope, and Jack Bauer, who is at his first Olympics and was basically there to support him.

However Henderson, who recently completed the Tour de France, was off-colour with a stomach upset throughout the journey and was never a factor. The Dunedin rider eventually withdrew about two-thirds of the way through the 249.5km race.

Bauer, noted for his strength more than his sprinting ability, powered on and ended up finishing a most creditable 10th.

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Good day at the office for rowers

New Zealand’s big guns fired on all cylinders when the Olympic rowing competition got under way.

Murray and Bond, unbeaten for three years, were in a class of their own in their men’s pair heat. The blond New Zealanders looked supremely confident as they pulled away from the field remorselessly, eventually winning in 6min 08.50s, with a vast gap to second-placed France in 6min 17.22s.

Murray and Bond now move into the semi-finals.

Drysdale, a bronze medallist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, dominated his heat, finishing a whopping 11 seconds ahead of second-placed Olaf Tufte of Norway. The tall New Zealander now progresses to the quarter-finals.

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Snyders breaks NZ record

North Shore breaststroke specialist Glenn Snyders provided the highlight for New Zealand of the first session in the Olympic pool.

Snyders, touted as one of the big hopes of the swim squad after his impressive efforts at last year’s world championships, won his 100m breaststroke heat in a national record time of 59.78s and qualified fifth for the semi-finals.

Unfortunately, he failed to find his best form in the semi-final and missed out on a place in the Olympic men’s 100 breaststroke final.

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Waikato swimmer Matthew Stanley was the first New Zealander up in the pool, in the 400m freestyle.

Stanley, 20, was fifth in his heat in a time of 3min 49.44s, which placed him 14th among the 28 entrants in the event.

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New Zealand's women’s 4 x 100m freestyle relay team could make little impression on the favourites in the Olympic pool.

The New Zealand team of Tash Hind, Penelope Marshall, Amaka Gessler and Hayley Palmer managed just seventh in their heat, with a time of 3min 42.55s.

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Promising start for three-day eventing team

The two junior members of the New Zealand three-day evening team got the Kiwis off to an encouraging start at Greenwich Park overnight (NZT).

Halfway through the first-day dressage section, Jock Paget, riding Clifton Promise, was in sixth place with 44.10 penalties.

Jonelle Richards, the first New Zealand rider to be involved in the competition, incurred 56.70 penalties riding Flintstar, and held 24th placing.

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Second loss for Football Ferns

The New Zealand women’s soccer team fought hard but were beaten 1-0 by Brazil in their Olympic pool match at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, overnight (NZT).

The result means the Football Ferns have now lost both their pool matches and their quarter-final chances are hanging by a thread.

They will need to have a good win over Cameroon in their final pool match on Wednesday to have any chance of progressing.

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Royal Surprise for NZ athletes

Asked to don their number ones and head to the Olympic Village, New Zealand athletes Alexis Pritchard (boxing), Richie Patterson (weightlifting) and flag bearer Nick Willis had a surprise audience with the Queen overnight (NZT).

The team was advised of the visit only hours before the arrival HRH Queen Elizabeth who was joined in the athletes’ main dining hall by Prince Philip and Princess Anne. She charmed the dozens of athletes from ten Commonwealth nations invited to the meeting.

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NZ athletes march in opening

Around sixty members of the New Zealand team marched into the Olympic Stadium in the opening of the London Olympic Games.

Led by Flag Bearer Nick Willis, the New Zealand Olympic Team wore a classic black uniform emblazoned with a silver fern and the constellation of the Southern Cross.

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