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Joining me now is Sir Tamati Reedy who was himself a noted sportsman
in rugby, tennis and a marathon runner in his youth.
How would you rate our performance at the Olympics?
The lines of a haka would be a perfect example of their performance
- 'the thunder claps and flashes ominously in the sky
'making the earth quake.'
The earth quakes in victory
at Lisa Carrington's efforts at the Olympics.
All of NZ, her family, and all of Maoridom are very proud.
You're related to Lisa Carrington?
I wouldn't say it like that,
she's a relation of all Maori.
We can connect to everything and we'll leave it at that.
There are 13 Olympics medals returning to NZ.
What do we need to do
to encourage other high-performance athletes in the future?
There's only one thing, Scotty.
Celebrate them all.
This isn't something that's just been conjured up yesterday -
those are professional sportspeople from all around the world.
The Olympics is seen as the pinnacle of the sports world.
So we should be proud of those who are bringing their medals home.
We should be proud, but also humble.
African countries dominate long-distance races.
Is there a sport NZ should focus on to become the best in the world?
I think you see it in the popular canoeing events.
The younger generation particularly take to these kind of events,
and I think that's something we can look forward to.
Even though Waka Ama is not an official Olympic event,
we have our specialist paddlers there promoting the sport,
so that could be where our strength lies.
Rugby is also one of our strengths.
There are many avenues where we can excel, like in water sports.
Why don't we compete in those events?
We're also not short people -
we have tall people who're able to bounce balls.
So those are the different avenues we can look into.
But the main thing is that the challenge has been laid
from the likes of Storm Uru.
They're the ones who have worn the hei tiki around their necks
proclaiming that they're not just NZ champions, but also Maori champions.
Sir Tamati Reedy, thank you for joining us.