NZ can feel proud that our athletes at Rio won 18 medals: 4 gold, 9 silver and 5 bronze. This is a good return for the $130 million that the NZ taxpayer has spent on supporting our top athletes. It is proof that NZ is a country which loves sport.
High Performance Sport NZ was aiming for 14 medals so this is 4 more than expected although not quite in the same sports as expected. In fact, NZ is third per capita in the number of medals. Grenada (population 100,000 with 1 silver medal) was first and the Bahamas (400,000 people with 1 gold and 1 bronze medal) was second.
The closing ceremony last night was a colourful celebration of a very successful Olympic Games. Athletes, officials and media were full of praise for the excellent organisation of the Games.
The next Olympic Games will be held in Tokyo in four years’ time.
Vocabulary
• proof – evidence
• per capita – per head of population
• media – TV, radio, newspaper reporters