Olympic event at the NZ Embassy in Washington

Here in D.C, embassies are constantly putting on interesting events and the New Zealand Embassy is no exception.

Recently, New Zealand Ambassador to the United States HE Roy Ferguson, and his wife Dawn Ferguson, hosted a function honouring past New Zealand Olympians.

The evening affair came about after an initiative of the New Zealand Olympic Committee.

Wanting to formally recognize all past New Zealand Olympic athletes, the NZOC designed pins that were each engraved with a number unique to a past participating New Zealand Olympic athlete. There are known to be 1,123 past New Zealand Olympic athletes.

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Surrounded by friends and family, four athletes were honored by the Ambassador and New Zealand Embassy staff.

The athletes living in and around D.C who were honoured were Gary Lamb and Anna Daly nee Doig, who both competed in aquatics in 1984 in the Los Ageles Olympics games, Ben Labowitch who competed in aquatics in the 2004 Athens games, and Gavin Brady, who competed in sailing in Sydney during the 2000 games.

After receiving their awards, each Olympian reflected on the trials and tribulations of competing in the Olympics, a highlight in each of their sporting careers.

The athletes said they were overwhelmed at first by the vast size of the Games, with so many activities underway at once.

They demonstrated the special Kiwi esprit des corps, which they and their families still carry today.

In 1984, Kiwis did not have some of the advantages other teams experienced. They had to conduct their usual work or studies all day, and then train when they could. This was in contrast to larger, wealthier countries, where athletes could practice all the time as sports had moved from an amateur to a highly paid professional level.

All of the Olympians present had married Americans but they are always New Zealanders.

One other note about the event: it marked the debut of Michelle Parish, the new Public Affairs Officer for the Embassy.

We wish her the best.

The Ambassador and his wife are preparing to return to New Zealand.

They have been an extremely popular and effective Ambassadorial couple in D.C, and will be missed.

But we are also looking forward to a rollicking good time with the incoming Ambassador, Mr Michael Moore.

Connie Lawn has a passionate love for NZ. She worked for Radio New Zealand for 20 years, and then for Radio Live for a few years. Connie has covered the White House and the world since 1968. Her other passion is skiing, and she calls herself "the skiing White House reporter." Her ski stories are on dcski.com and other outlets. Connie is also heard on thousands of radio stations, but firmly believes the internet is the future. She can be reached at connie@scoop.co.nz

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