Going For Gold: Kiwis Inspired To Follow New Zealand Olympic Heroes

One in four Kiwi kids and adults are looking to start a new sport after watching the Tokyo 2020 Olympics

Swimming, rowing and kayaking, rugby 7s, and athletics most motivating sports

Interest in kayaks, bikes, trampolines, and swimming goggles all up on www.thewarehouse.co.nz

Can sporting success inspire public participation? After watching New Zealand’s most successful Olympics Games ever, new research suggests that more than a third of Kiwis are feeling inspired to have-a-go and try the sports of their Olympic heroes.

That’s according to The Warehouse - an official sponsor of the New Zealand Olympic Team at Tokyo 2020 - which released the independent research* after polling more than 1,000 representative Kiwis to discover their sporting intent and the events that had inspired them.

Asked what sport motivated them the most, Lisa Carrington with her three gold medals is a huge inspiration, with almost one in five respondents selecting kayaking or rowing. Asked what other sports Kiwis were motivated by, aquatics (including swimming and diving), rugby 7s, track and field athletics, and gymnastics rounded out the top five*.

More than 80% of respondents had watched the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Commenting on the research, The Warehouse Chief Customer Officer, Jonathan Waecker, said “These Summer Olympic Games gripped the nation and our research indicates that Kiwis everywhere not only felt a sense of pride as we brought home the 20 medals, but were also inspired to get active.

“Especially children, with over one in four parents saying their kids were likely to start a new sport in the near future. At The Warehouse we’re a great supporter of this and helping to make it easier for Kiwi kids to start something new.

“We also compared our website traffic from the Olympic fortnight with the two-weeks preceding the games and saw a significant spike in interest for products related to sports and outdoor gear during the Olympic Games period.”

“These spikes mainly relate to cycling, tennis, aquatics, trampolining and kayaking – all sports our Olympians have performed well in. During a period that’s usually pretty quiet for summer sporting equipment, this is more than a little unusual.”

The top five products that saw a significant increase on The Warehouse website were: **

Goggles - 97%

Tennis rackets - 34%

Youth and adult bikes - 20%

Kayaks - 20%

Trampolines - 14%

“At The Warehouse, we’re passionate about supporting all New Zealand communities and this is what drove us to sponsor the New Zealand Olympic Team – as just like the Olympic athletes, we are in every corner of New Zealand. I’d like to think that right now some future stars have been watching the Tokyo 2020 and, feeling inspired, have headed down to The Warehouse to pick out their first bat, racket or ball and are on their way to discover their sporting passion,” added Waecker.

The Warehouse is an official supporter of the New Zealand Olympic Team at Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022, and are encouraging Kiwis to start their own sporting journey by making sporting accessible to all.

The Warehouse recently partnered with Variety – the Children’s Charity to donate sports gear to schools in need, with more than 600 pieces of sports gear given away.

They also sponsored a ‘Start Here’ school programme at the NZ Team fanzone that helped to inspire over 6,000 kids with the core Olympic values of Excellence, Respect and Friendship.

*Independent research carried out Pure Profile. Representative sample of 1,002 people across New Zealand polled between August 3 and August 6, 2021. Full results available upon request.

**Statistics pulled from The Warehouse traffic data and compared unique page views to www.thewarehouse.co.nz from July 9 – July 19 with July 23 – August 2.

***Numbers rounded to the nearest whole number.

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