Olympics: Judging our athletes not black and white

Debating the performance of the New Zealand Olympic Beij Brigade is like negotiating the hutong streets of this remarkable city.

You can go round and round in circles and get a different outcome every time.

Was three gold medals a good result? What about nine overall? And which were our premier performances?

The gold haul is about the norm these days while the overall tally comfortably eclipses each of the last three Games.

But so it should have.

This was New Zealand's biggest team. Among the 182 athletes were a swag of world champions or top-ranked medal hopefuls.

They still couldn't match the hauls of Los Angeles 1984 (11), Seoul 1988 (13) and Barcelona 1992 (10).

An optimist might say a renaissance in New Zealand sport is under way, as prophesied by retired cycling great Sarah Ulmer days out from competition.

"We've never had more potential, I don't believe, as a sporting nation," she said.

"The Olympic Games are all about pressure and that's the beauty of it."

As usual some athletes responded and others didn't, prompting another difficult question.

Should we judge them on results alone or whether they exceed expectation?

The gold medallists' merits are hard enough to compare.

Valerie Vili bulldozed the shot put competition in a manner hard to recall of any New Zealand Olympian. The biggest and baddest from Europe cowed as the black singlet sampled athletics gold for the first time in 32 years.

By contrast, rowing twins Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell won the double sculls by the closest margin possible, their 0.01 second triumph deleting 18 months of poor form from the conscience.

And Tom Ashley scraped to his boardsailing victory by a point, eight seconds clear of his key rival in a pressure-cooker medal race. It was a reward for mental resolve and lifted New Zealand yachting out of its Olympic doldrums.

There will be some who rate other performances on at least the same pedestal as the three winners -- if not higher because of stronger fields or other circumstances.

The 1500m bronze to Nick Willis was in one of the Olympic's blue riband events, one long ingrained in the New Zealand sporting psyche. It takes something special to stir memories of Jack Lovelock, Peter Snell and John Walker.

The lone silver belonged to track cyclist Hayden Roulston, all power in the 4000m individual pursuit, before helping the young men's pursuit team to bronze to become New Zealand's first cycling double medallist.

Bronze for single sculls rower Mahe Drysdale was unforgettable due to the courage shown by the triple world champion, who somehow led with 100m remaining before the effects of a week-long illness took hold. The New Zealand flagbearer rose to attend the medal ceremony after 20 minutes of medical treatment.

Another to overcome a dodgy tum in heroic style was Moss Burmester in the men's 200m butterfly, New Zealand's first swimming finalist in 12 years. He had the temerity to lead Michael Phelps through 50m and only had the superstar American in front of him with a length to go before finishing fourth.

Bevan Docherty threatened to turn his Athens triathlon silver into gold but his aching legs had to settle for bronze in the sprint for home. Now he wants the full set.

These games marked 100 years of New Zealanders competing at the Olympics.

The feng shui looked good when the women's football team literally kicked off all competition with the first touch of the Games, two days before the opening ceremony.

Then followed 10 medal-less days, effectively a countdown period to Super Saturday on August 16 when New Zealanders awaited their best ever Olympic day.

They weren't disappointed. Five medal moments in the space of six hours.

The twins, Vili, Roulston, Drysdale and bronze rowing pair George Bridgewater and Nathan Twaddle all etched their names in history.

There were five fourth placings by Games end along with numerous personal bests and performances against the odds.

Notable failures can't be glossed over.

Last place was an utter letdown for women's hockey team while eventing veterans Mark Todd and Andrew Nicholson couldn't reprise past glories and discus thrower Beatrice Faumuina disappointed with her performance and frosty reaction to it.

Both football teams were winless on debut but that was expected, while the men's hockey and women's basketball teams also got results commensurate with their rankings.

Sports like badminton, shooting, weightlifting, tennis and taekwondo enjoyed brief moments in the spotlight but will return to relative anonymity while kayaking and BMX were close but no cigar late in the Games as New Zealand's interest waned.

These Olympics were no roaring success but nor was there a China crisis.

The shades of grey are best captured by this 2500-year-old gem from philosopher Confucius.

"Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it."