NZ needs to find new ways to win - benefactor

LONDON - New Zealand must find ways to improve its Olympic sporting prowess before Athens in fours years time, London-based businessman and sporting benefactor Michael Watt said today.

"As a nation of people New Zealanders seem to have lost their exuberant extroverted nature. We used to be quite tough in every sense of the word. We must stealthily find an answer to stepping it up for the Athens Games,'' he said on Wednesday.

Watt has put $NZ1 million into New Zealand cricket and is bankrolling Claudia Riegler's international skiing career for the next two years.

New Zealand (four medals) is out of the top 30 countries on the medal table, while Britain has had its best gold medal haul since 1956. The Australians have won 12 times as many golds and 10 times as many medals as the Kiwis.

Watt warned New Zealanders should not become whingers or vindictive because of the lean medal table.

"It's a malaise of our country. We sometimes go after people who have given their best and not produced what we sometimes unrealistically expect. We just need to find new ways of earning success. We need to becoming a country of winners again.

"In the past it was academic for New Zealand with guys like (athletes Peter) Snell, (Murray) Halberg and (John) Walker to do well. Things have changed in the professional era. We don't want to see New Zealand slide off the map.''

A problem facing New Zealand at the present was so many talented people were leaving the country to make a living, he said.

Watt hoped the flying Kiwi trend would soon change because the country had so much to offer.

"New Zealanders have a great reputation as people. They are seriously hard workers. I could do with a lot more of them.

"In sport and mainly in the Olympics, countries go through certain periods. Like the New Zealand dollar, we're in a bit of a lull but I have no doubt the talent is there.

"Every one is very sensitive to fact the kiwi dollar is weak and that in turn permeates through the philosophy of a country.''

He said New Zealanders should ignore "moaning'' talkback radio and become more positive about achieving.

"It was incredible watching Cathy Freeman win her 400m gold medal. Even the British commentators were rooting for her. That's the type of inspiration we need for our kids.

"Rob Waddell has done brilliantly well in rowing and he's a great sporting icon and role model to kids who want to achieve the highest level.''

Watt said leading sports, business and government heads could get together to help ignite a new era of New Zealand Olympic success. British athletes will get over stg150 ($NZ533) million of lottery funding before the 2004 Athens games.

"There is no easy fix when you are not winning a pile of gold medals but we should not become depressed about it. We should stealthily go about correcting it.''

At the end of last year Watt gifted former world No 2 downhill skier Riegler $NZ200,000 for two years to revive her career.

He used to manage New Zealand's former Wimbledon Junior tennis champion Chris Lewis and put $NZ1 million into setting up the NZ cricket academy in Christchurch.

- NZPA