New Zealand at the 2016 Summer Paralympics | |
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IPC code | NZL |
NPC | Paralympics New Zealand |
Website | paralympics |
in Rio de Janeiro | |
Competitors | 31 in 6 sports |
Flag bearers | Holly Robinson (opening)[1] Liam Malone (closing)[2] |
Medals Ranked 13th |
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Summer Paralympics appearances (overview) | |
New Zealand competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016. It was the nation's thirteenth appearance at the Summer Paralympics, having made its debut in 1968 and appeared in every edition since.
The 31-member delegation collected 21 medals at the Games: nine gold, five silver and seven bronze. This was the second-largest number of medals won by New Zealand behind the 1984 Games, while the number of gold medals achieved equalling the record of nine achieved at the 1996 Games. The medals won exceeded High Performance Sport New Zealand's target of 18 medals overall, but fell short of the second target of 12 gold medals.[3] Swimming and athletics dominated the medal tally with ten and nine medals respectively; the remaining two medals were both achieved in cycling.
Swimmer Sophie Pascoe achieved three gold medals and two silver medals, taking her total medal haul to nine golds and six silvers and overtaking Eve Rimmer to become New Zealand's most decorated Paralympian.[4] Her silver medal in the 50 m freestyle S10 is New Zealand's 200th overall Paralympic medal.[5] Fellow swimmers Mary Fisher, Nikita Howarth and Cameron Leslie won single gold medals, with Leslie completing a hat-trick with his third consecutive gold medal in the 150 m individual medley SM4. Sprinter Liam Malone won gold medals in the 200 m and 400 m T44 events, while fellow athlete Anna Grimaldi won the gold medal in the long jump T47.