Olympics: Teenage Kiwi diver selected for Rio

New Zealand diver Elizabeth Cui. Photo / Getty

New Zealand will send a diver to the Olympics for the first time in 24 years.

Auckland 18-year-old Elizabeth Cui has been named to compete in the three-metre individual springboard event.

Cui staked her claim for selection at the Olympic test event in February, when she finished ahead of the current Commonwealth champion.

She's just the sixth Kiwi diver to be named for a Games, and the first since Tania Paterson in 1992.

Cui's shocked, as she targeted Tokyo for her Olympic debut.

"It's an amazing opportunity to be able to go to this year's Games and then [get the chance to] train hard for 2020," she said.

Cui says she's only had overseas competitors to look up to and she wants to be a role model for others here to follow.

"I wants to show New Zealanders how great a sport diving is."

Cui is based in the United States, where she's studying at Louisiana State University.

Her selection brings the New Zealand team to 161 athletes, with the women's hockey team and remainder of the cycling squad to be announced later this week.