Among Mid Cantabrians watching from today as the 2024 Olympics begin in Paris, will be Barry Maister of Methven.
The 76-year-old is himself an Olympic gold medallist, having been a member of the New Zealand Men’s Hockey Team which won in Montreal in 1976.
Barry is looking forward to seeing the televised coverage as New Zealand’s athletes carry the hopes and dreams of the nation.
‘‘The Olympic Games have got that aura, that mystique, that magnificence, that aspiration that truly global thing and kids aspire to that,’’ Barry said. ‘‘Talk to a kid who is very good at sport and they will often say ‘My ambition is to go to the Olympic Games’.’’
And when today’s New Zealand Men’s Hockey Team play, Barry will not only be there in spirit, cheering them on, but he will be there in name as well. The New Zealand team’s playing kit features a homage to the famous 1976 side, with all the athletes’ names inside the shirt.
‘‘The team today thought they wanted to have our names on their backs when they are competing in Paris, which is a lovely thought,’’ Barry said. ‘‘It was unexpected.’’
When the team was named and presented with their kit in Auckland last month, there was also a reunion of all 14 surviving players from the 1976 team. Two players, including Paul Ackerley of Ashburton, have since died.
The 2024 Olympics begin today with preliminary games, while the opening ceremony will be 5.20am on Saturday. More than 200 countries will attend and compete in 329 events across 32 sports, through to August 11.
Barry was fieldside at a recent Mid Canterbury Hockey Olympic Week, where junior hockey players formed teams and played at the turf in the Ashburton Domain, dressed in Olympic wear.
Other former national hockey representatives Stacey McKerchar, Hugh Copland and Ryan Wilson, also spoke to the children during the week.
It was an enjoyable event for Barry, who believes it is important to inspire future generations.
‘‘The IOC has said ‘If we are not relevant to what kids are doing today, we become irrelevant’.
It is hoped the inclusion of surfing, climbing, skateboarding, breaking, BMX freestyle and 3X3 basketball in the games this year will appeal to youth.
‘‘We have to look to what the kids of the world are doing.’’
He said competing in the Olympics had meant everything to him when he was young.
‘‘I was an Olympic junkie,’’ Barry said.
‘‘Because since 1968 when I first went to the Olympic Games, the Olympic Games gripped me, absorbed me and was something I just loved.’’
‘‘It’s not just about winning gold medals, it’s developing your personality and playing within a set of rules that are universal,’’ he said.
Barry was a men’s hockey centre forward. He played 85 times for New Zealand and attended the games in 1968 and 1972, before the team won gold in 1976.
It is the only time New Zealand have won gold in the men’s hockey event.
He was selected for the 1980 games in Moscow, as team vicecaptain.
However the team, caught up in a western countries boycott, did not attend.
‘‘We were looking forward to defending our gold medal, but that never happened.’’
It was Barry’s last involvement with the games as an athlete, but not as an official.
He went on to have various roles with the New Zealand Olympic Committee from 2001 including president and secretary-general, and was on the executive committees of both the Oceania National Olympic Committee and the Association of National Olympic Committee.
‘‘My background is in education … I had 14 years as a school principal,’’ he said of his time at Riccarton High School and St Andrew’s College.
‘‘I got invited to apply for the position of New Zealand Olympic Committee secretarygeneral, which is like a CEO,’’ he said.
His application was successful, no doubt helped by his career in education and his experience in the Olympic arena.
‘‘In a sense it was sort of a dream job really because it reflected my interests as unbeknown to most people around the world, the Olympics movement is not just about sport, it’s about education.’’
Barry remained in the role for 10 years before joining the International Olympic Committee for a further nine years.
Barry has been an international sports ambassador for New Zealand, was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit and a member of the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame.
He has served on several IOC Commissions.
