New research explores how the Olympic Games have shaped New Zealand identity
Politics and sport have always fascinated Victoria University of Wellington graduate Micheal Warren, who is graduating with a PhD in Political Science this week—and his doctoral research provided an opportunity to combine the two.
Micheal’s thesis explored the contribution New Zealand's participation in the Olympic Games has made to national identity to better understand the role the world's largest sporting event has had in shaping New Zealand society.
As part of his research, Micheal conducted around 30 interviews with New Zealand Olympians—from the 1960s to the 2016 Rio Olympics—as well as former Minsters of Sport and members of the New Zealand broadcast media who have commentated the Olympics.
Micheal says his interest in the Olympics started at a young age. “I remember as a nine-year-old in 1996 watching the Atlanta Olympic Games, seeing Danyon Loader winning gold and thinking ‘this is pretty cool—here we are competing on the world stage and winning’.”
While rugby arguably dominates the national conversation about New Zealand’s sporting success, Micheal says it’s our participation in the Olympic Games that reflects something unique about the New Zealand psyche.