2024 Olympics: What inspired these Kiwi athletes to pursue Olympic-level sport?

The difference between top-level and high-performance sport is subtle, yet significant. Demonstrating unwavering commitment, New Zealand athletes have relentlessly pushed their limits in pursuit of greatness at the 2024 Olympic Games. In the third instalment of a six-part video series, the Herald speaks with some of our leading Olympians about the inspirations that drove them to excel in their respective sports.

Zoe Hobbs: Sprinter, first-time Olympian

Hobbs will be the first female sprinter from New Zealand to compete at a Games in almost 50 years.

“The Olympics is something that you watch from a very young age,” she said.

“Sprinting was the sport that I was probably the best at, and with the pinnacle [of] the Olympics [being] athletics and sprinting being my biggest strength that I really enjoyed growing up, it was kind of a no-brainer.”

Tom Mackintosh: Rower, two-time Olympian

Mackintosh is an Olympic gold medallist, claiming the top podium spot at Tokyo 2020 as part of the men’s eight.

He’s competing in the single sculls event in Paris.

“New Zealand has a rich history in the sport,” Mackintosh said.

“I remember back, probably would have been 2004, watching the Athens Games.

“Dad was very animated at the screen watching the rowing - and I thought, ‘man, this seems pretty exciting’.

“Then probably in about Year 10 at high school, I jumped in a boat and picked up an oar and always wanted to go to the Olympics and this seemed like a pathway to go there.”

Emma Twigg: Rower, five-time Olympian

As one of New Zealand’s most experienced Olympians, Twigg, heading to her fifth Games, Twigg reflects on what initially motivated her into the boat at a young age.

“There were some amazing role models in Rob Waddell and the Evers-Swindell twins – and they kind of piqued my interest in the sport.

“The Evers-Swindell twins were Hawke’s Bay girls [Twigg is from the region] so for me, I saw them as people that lived a very similar life to me and were from the same place, were really accessible.

“They inspired me into the sport.”

Lewis Clareburt: Swimmer, two-time Olympian

Clareburt won two gold medals at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games – one in a Commonwealth record time.

“I have two older sisters, they were really good at swimming, when we were younger and I also swam around a lot of Olympians during my age group days.

“I had a lot of athletes to look up to and I thought it was just such a cool, job to do.

Bonnie Jansen is a multimedia journalist in the NZME sports team. She’s a football commentator and co-host of the Football Fever podcast and was part of the Te Rito cadetship scheme before becoming a fulltime journalist.