They are back, and they have a little something they did not have when they left Dunedin more than five weeks ago.
Dunedin para athletes Rory McSweeney, Jess Hamill, Holly Robinson and Anna Grimaldi all won medals at the International Paralympic Committee world championships in Doha, which wrapped up last weekend.
The group was still getting used to being back in Dunedin yesterday, a stark contrast to the Middle Eastern country of Qatar, where temperatures hovered around the 30degC mark.
All four agreed that the championships were well run and a perfect building block for next year's Rio Olympics.
McSweeney, who won silver in the T44 javelin with a 55.8m throw, said his third world championships was an ''unreal experience''.
He briefly led the competition after delivering his best throw first up. It was 3m further than his previous best, set in Darwin just before the world champs.
''It would have been a shock to the competition because it was about 5.5m more than I was in the rankings,'' McSweeney said.
When asked where the monster throw came from, the below the knee amputee said he was confident a big throw was looming.
''That's what you train for. Probably just from the taper and being freshened up. The fact I was throwing big still under load leading into it.
''I just smashed it ... it was a pretty good feeling.''
McSweeney's second-placed finish automatically cements a spot for New Zealand in the event in Rio next year, a spot that ''should'' be his if he can stay healthy.
Hamill got New Zealand off to a good start on the opening day of the championships by winning silver in the F34 shot put.
The 25-year-old saved her best for last, launching a monster 7.83m put with her sixth and final effort to add silver to the Commonwealth Games silver medal she won in Delhi in 2010.
''It was so overwhelming,'' Hamill, who has cerebral palsy, said.
''I set a distance that I wanted to get of 7.50m, but I got 7.83m, so I was just blown away. I haven't felt that buzz in so long.''
Hamill is due to have surgery on her troublesome right ear shortly, meaning she will not fully resume training until after Christmas.
However, she is more determined than ever to win gold in Rio after performing well in Doha.
Robinson could not back up the silver medal she won two years ago in France, but was happy with how she finished to win bronze in the F46 javelin.
''Immediately after, I was a bit disappointed,'' she said.
''But there is lots of things that I have taken away from it. Just the first half of my competition was not going great, but I managed to bring it back.''
Despite finishing in third place, Robinson is closer to reaching the top than she was a couple of years ago.
Then, she was about 5m away from gold, while she is now only about 2m off challenging for the top spot on the podium.
Her 38.18m throw last weekend was a personal best, and puts Robinson in a good position to build towards Rio.
Grimaldi is still coming to grips with winning bronze in the T47 jump.
She produced the personal-best 5.41m jump almost two years to the day after she first took up athletics.
''I wasn't expecting any medal of any form,'' the 18-year-old said.
''So to come away with bronze and that big of a PB, that's what I was so stoked about.''
Grimaldi did not realise she was in third place until after her sixth and final jump, and had a nervous wait to see if she had done enough to get on the podium.
''It's actually crazy,'' she said.
''I see the medal at home and I'm like, 'Whose is that?'.''
Grimaldi also finished fifth in the 200m and 13th in the 100m.
