New Zealand Olympic Committee
The New Zealand Olympic Committee is both the National Olympic Committee and the Commonwealth Games Association in New Zealand responsible for selecting athletes to represent New Zealand in the Summer and Winter Olympic Games and the Commonwealth Games.
While a founder member of the International Olympic Committee, New Zealand did not send its own team to compete until the Games of the VI Olympiad, though at the [Australasia at the 1908 Summer Olympic Games|Summer Olympics|1908] and 1912 Summer Olympics New Zealand and Australia competed as "Australasia". New Zealand has sent a team to every Summer Olympic Games since 1920, though only a token team of four went to the 1980 Summer Olympics at Moscow due to the boycott. New Zealand first competed at the Winter Olympics in 1952, but did not compete in the 1956 or 1964 Winter Olympics.
New Zealand has sent a team to every Commonwealth Games since the first in 1930, which was held in Canada and then called the British Empire Games. They are held every four years, in between the Olympic Games.
Membership
The NZOC is a member of the International Olympic Committee and the Commonwealth Games Federation.Emblem
The NZOC emblem consisting of a depiction of a silver fern superimposed on the Olympic Rings was created as a marketing symbol in 1979. It was first publicly used at an Olympic Games at the Games of the XXII Olympiad —New Zealand competed under this flag to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. It went to its current coloured version in 1994.International Olympic Committee
The NZOC is the National Olympic Committee for New Zealand. The NZOC was founded in 1911 and recognised by the IOC in 1919. Former New Zealand members of the International Olympic Committee are:- Leonard Cuff 1st, one of the founding members
- Richard Coombes 2nd
- Arthur A. Marryatt 3rd
- Joseph Firth, CMG 4th
- Lt-Gen Bernard Freyberg, VC, CMG, DSO 5th
- Cecil J. Wray 6th
- Sir Arthur Porritt, Bt GCMG CBE 7th
- Sir Lance Cross, CBE 8th
- Sir Tay Wilson, KNZM OBE 9th
- Barbara Kendall, MBE 10th
- Barry Maister CNZM 11th
- Barbara Kendall CNZM MBE 12th
Governance
The NZOC is governed by a board that is headed by a president. Five of the board members are elected by the general assembly. The two IOC members plus an athletes' representative complete the board. Since November 2022, the president is Liz Dawson.Presidents
- Liz Dawson
- Mike Stanley CNZM
- Sir Eion Edgar KNZM
- John Davies MBE
- Hon. Sir David Beattie GCMG GCVO KBE QSO QC