New Zealand at the 1978 Commonwealth Games
CGF code	NZL
CGA	New Zealand Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association
Website	www.olympic.org.nz
inEdmonton,Alberta, Canada
Competitors	102
Flag bearer	Neil Lyster
Officials	32
Medals Ranked 5th	Gold 5 Silver 6 Bronze 9 Total 20
Commonwealth Games appearances (overview)
1930 1934 1938 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 2026 2030

New Zealand at the 1978 Commonwealth Games was represented by a team of 102 competitors and 32 officials. Selection of the team for theGames inEdmonton, Canada, was the responsibility of theNew Zealand Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association. New Zealand's flagbearer at the opening ceremony was cyclistNeil Lyster. The New Zealand team finished fifth on the medal table, winning a total of 20 medals, five of which were gold.

New Zealand has competed in every games, starting with theBritish Empire Games in 1930 atHamilton, Ontario.

Nigeria boycotted the 1978 Games in protest at New Zealand's sporting contacts withapartheid-era South Africa.

New Zealand was fifth on the medal table in 1978, with a total of 20 medals, including five gold.

Medal	Name	Sport	Event
Gold	Mike Richards	Cycling	Men's individual pursuit
Gold	John Woolley	Shooting	Open skeet
Gold	Gary Hurring	Swimming	Men's 200 m backstroke
Gold	Rebecca Perrott	Swimming	Women's 200 m freestyle
Gold	Precious McKenzie	Weightlifting	Men's bantamweight
Silver	Mike O'Rourke	Athletics	Men's javelin throw
Silver	Heather Thomson	Athletics	Women's 3000 m
Silver	Kevin Blackwell Anthony Cuff Neil Lyster Jack Swart	Cycling	Men's team pursuit
Silver	David Baldwin John Malcolm Morgan Moffat Phil Skoglund	Lawn bowls	Men's fours
Silver	Penny McCarthy	Swimming	Women's 100 m butterfly
Silver	Rebecca Perrott	Swimming	Women's 200 m individual medley
Bronze	George Stankovich	Boxing	Men's heavyweight
Bronze	Bryan Purser Richard Purser	Badminton	Men's doubles
Bronze	Garry Bell	Cycling	Men's road race
Bronze	Lynette Brake Rowena Davis Kirsty Durward Deborah Hurst	Gymnastics	Women's team
Bronze	Rebecca Perrott	Swimming	Women's 400 m freestyle
Bronze	Rebecca Perrott	Swimming	Women's 800 m freestyle
Bronze	Brian Marsden	Weightlifting	Men's middle heavyweight
Bronze	Phillip Sue	Weightlifting	Men's lightweight
Bronze	Murray Avery	Wrestling	Men's heavyweight

Medals by sport
Sport				Total
Swimming	2	2	2	6
Cycling	1	1	1	3
Weightlifting	1	0	2	3
Shooting	1	0	0	1
Athletics	0	2	0	2
Lawn bowls	0	1	0	1
Boxing	0	0	1	1
Badminton	0	0	1	1
Gymnastics	0	0	1	1
Wrestling	0	0	1	1
Total	5	6	9	20

Medals by gender
Gender				Total
Male	3	3	6	12
Female	1	3	3	7
Mixed / open	1	0	0	1
Total	5	6	9	20

The following table lists the number of New Zealand competitors participating at the Games according to gender and sport.

Athlete	Event	Heat		Quarterfinal		Semifinal		Final
		Result	Rank[i]	Result	Rank[ii]	Result	Rank[iii]	Result	Rank
Paul Ballinger	Men's marathon	—						2:17:46	6
Wendy Brown	Women's 100 m	11.84	4	—		did not advance
	Women's 200 m	23.77	3Q	—		23.64	5	did not advance
Rod Dixon	Men's 1500 m	3:39.03	3Q	—				3:41.34	8
	Men's 5000 m	14:08.02	2Q	—				13:43.69	8
Graeme French	Men's 100 m	10.94	4Q	10.98	8	did not advance
Howard Healey	Men's 3000 m steeplechase	8:48.4	4Q	—				8:43.75	5
Penny Hunt	Women's 200 m	24.25	4	—		did not advance
	Women's 400 m	54.53	4Q	—		54.26	7	did not advance
Terry Manners	Men's marathon	—						2:23:00	13
Phillip Mills	Men's 110 m hurdles	14.32	4q	—				14.09	6
	Men's 400 m hurdles	53.78	5q	—		50.92	4Q	52.01	8
Dennis Norris	Men's 800 m	1:51.5	3Q	—		1:50.77	5	did not advance
	Men's 1500 m	3:45.96	8	—				did not advance
Mike Parker	Men's 30 km walk	—						DNF
Ross Pownall	Men's 110 m hurdles	14.36	3Q	—				14.18	7
Dick Quax	Men's 5000 m	DNS		—				did not advance
	Men's 10,000 m	—						29:58.00	9
Euan Robertson	Men's 3000 m steeplechase	8:53.1	3Q	—				8:41.32	4
Kim Robertson	Women's 100 m	11.67	2Q	—		11.63	5	did not advance
	Women's 200 m	23.38	3Q	—		23.59	6	did not advance
Kevin Ryan	Men's marathon	—						2:17:16	4
Graham Seatter	Men's 30 km walk	—						2:31:49	7
Bevan Smith	Men's 200 m	21.62	4Q	21.60	6	did not advance
	Men's 400 m	48.02	4Q	46.77	4q	48.25	8	did not advance
Heather Thomson	Women's 3000 m	—						9:20.69
Alan Thurlow	Men's 5000 m	14:27.19	8q	—				DNF
	Men's 10,000 m	—						30:05.24	10
Gail Wooten	Women's 100 m hurdles	14.14	4q	—				13.77	5
Alison Wright	Women's 800 m	2:07.7	2Q	—		2:06.71	6	did not advance
	Women's 1500 m	4:17.03	2Q	—				4:12.93	6
Bevan Smith Graeme French Phillip Mills Ross Pownall	Men's 4 × 100 m relay	41.40	5	—				did not advance
Gail Wooten Kim Robertson Penny Hunt Wendy Brown	Women's 4 × 100 m relay	—						45.06	4

Athlete	Event	Qualifying		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Noeline Hodgins	Women's long jump		Q	5.86 m	11
Mike O'Rourke	Men's javelin throw	—		83.18 m
Robin Tait	Men's discus throw	—		55.22 m	4
Phil Wood	Men's triple jump		Q	16.05 m	6

Men's decathlon

Women's pentathlon

Athlete	Event	Round of 64	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Final /BM	Rank
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result
Alison Branfield	Women's singles	Cain (IOM) W 11–0 11–0	Irwin (AUS) W 11–8 11–5	Bridge (ENG) L 3–11 3–11	did not advance
Mary Livingston	Women's singles	Bye	Blake (WAL) W 11–6 11–3	Beckett (ENG) L 7–11 6–11	did not advance
Ross Livingston	Men's singles	Bye	Maini (KEN) W 15–7 15–2	Jolly (ENG) W 18–16 15–11	Leong (MAL) L 7–15 2–15	did not advance
Bryan Purser	Men's singles	Lim (WAL) W 15–7 15–9	Ganguli (IND) L 8–15 15–6 12–15	did not advance
Richard Purser	Men's singles	Cooper (AUS) W 18–13 15–7	Evans (NIR) W 15–3 15–1	Priestman (CAN) W 15–13 15–4	Padukone (IND) L 1–15 8–15	did not advance
Allison Sinton	Women's singles	Bye	Swaby (AUS) L 5–11 8–11	did not advance
Steve Wilson	Men's singles	Mwangi (KEN) W 15–1 15–7	Modi (IND) L 6–15 7–15	did not advance

Athlete	Event	Round of 64	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Final /BM	Rank
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result
Ross Livingston Steve Wilson	Men's doubles	—	Padukone /Pawar (IND) L 9–15 5–15	did not advance
Bryan Purser Richard Purser	Men's doubles	—	Bye	Czich /McKee (CAN) W 15–12 15–5	Selvaraj /Abu Bakar (MAL) W 15–9 15–8	Stevens /Tredgett (ENG) L 5–15 8–15	Jolly /Talbot (ENG) W 15–10 11–15 15–1
Alison Branfield Mary Livingston	Women's doubles	—		Johnstone /Hamilton (SCO) L 6–15 11–15	did not advance
Alison Branfield Richard Purser	Mixed doubles	Bye	Hamilton /Travers (SCO) W 15–10 15–5	Singh /Pawar (IND) W 15–12 15–4	Clarkson /Carter (CAN) W 15–7 15–12	Perry /Tredgett (ENG) L 5–15 2–15	Sutton /Talbot (ENG) L 9–15 9–15	4
Mary Livingston Ross Livingston	Mixed doubles	Bye	Falardeau /Priestman (CAN) W 15–18 15–7 15–7	Perry /Tredgett (ENG) L 9–15 0–15	did not advance
Allison Sinton Bryan Purser	Mixed doubles	Bye	Brimble /Lim (WAL) W 15–7 15–10	Flockhart /Gilliland (SCO) L 4–15 1–15	did not advance

Athlete	Event	Group stage				Semifinal	Final /BM	Rank
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result
Alison Branfield Ross Livingston Mary Livingston Bryan Purser Richard Purser Allison Sinton Steve Wilson	Mixed team	India L 2–3	Australia W 3–2	Wales W 5–0	England L 5–0	Canada L 2–3	Malaysia L 1–4	4

Athlete	Event	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Final	Rank
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result
Gaulua Folasi	Light welterweight	—	Cameron (JAM) W	Mwangi (KEN) L	did not advance
David Jackson	Welterweight	Bye	Feal (WAL) L	did not advance
Ronald Jackson	Light middleweight	—	Bye	Samu (SAM) L	did not advance
Perry Rackley	Middleweight	—	Parkes (ENG) L	did not advance
Dean Rackley	Light heavyweight	—	—	Smith (ENG) L	did not advance
George Stankovich	Heavyweight	—	—	Kabegi (KEN) W	Awome (ENG) L	Did not advance

Men's road race

Athlete	Time	Rank
Garry Bell	4:22:35.06
Stephen Cox	4:23:47.91	18
Vern Hanaray	4:23:48.61	20
Blair Stockwell	4:35:08.10	30

Men's 1000 m sprint

Athlete	Round 1	First-round repechages	Round 2	Second-round repechages		Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final /BM	Rank
				Heat	Final
	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result
Mike Fabish	Turtur (AUS)  Benjamin (SKN) 3	Pile (BAR) W 12.08	Swinnerton (ENG)  Boyle (AUS) W 11.76	Bye		Tucker (AUS) L,L	did not advance		7
Eric McKenzie	Weller (JAM)  Singh (IND) 2	Watkins (CAN) W 12.40	Gadd (ENG)  Tudor (WAL) 3	Le Grys (ENG)  Gardiner (TTO) W 12.05	Rawlins (TTO) L	did not advance
Kevin McComb	Singleton (CAN)  Shearer (NIR) 2	Greenidge (BAR) WWO	Weller (JAM)  Le Grys (ENG) 3	Singh (IND)  Boyle (AUS) 3	did not advance

Men's tandem 2000 m sprint

Athletes	Qualification		Semifinals	Final /BM	Rank
	Time	Rank	Opposition Result	Opposition Result
Mike Fabish Eric McKenzie	10.37	1Q	Gadd /Le Grys (ENG) L (conceded after fall)	Boyle /Goodall (AUS) LWO	4

Men's 1 km time trial

Men's 4000 m pursuit

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final /BM	Rank
		Time	Rank	Opponent Result	Opponent Result	Opponent Result
Mike Richards	Individual pursuit	5:01.61	5Q	Sutton (AUS) W 4:50.50	Hayman (CAN) WOVL	Campbell (AUS) W 4:49.74
Jack Swart	Individual pursuit	5:02.88	6Q	Doyle (ENG) L	Did not advance
Kevin Blackwell Anthony Cuff Neil Lyster Jack Swart	Team pursuit	4:35.30	2Q	—	England W 4:36.70	Australia L

Men's 10 miles scratch race

Athlete	Event	Apparatus				Total	Rank
		V	UB	BB	F
Lynette Brake	Individual all-around					32.950	17
Rowena Davis	Individual all-around	9.30	9.10	8.80	8.70	35.900	9
Kirsty Durward	Individual all-around	9.55	8.60	8.30	9.15	35.600	10
Deborah Hurst	Individual all-around	9.10	9.15	8.85	8.85	35.950	8
Lynette Brake Rowena Davis Kirsty Durward Deborah Hurst	Team all-around					106.350

Athlete	Event	Round robin															Rank
		Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score
Kerry Clark	Men's singles	Gosden (KEN) W 21–5	Turner (MAW) W 21–13	Woodhard (GUE) W 21–11	Snell (AUS) L 18–21	Bryant (ENG) L 12–21	Evans (WAL) L 14–21	Green (SWZ) W 21–4	Madden (PNG) L 20–21	Tolova’a (SAM) W 21–13	Espie (NIR) W 21–15	Harakh (FIJ) W 21–6	McGill (SCO) W 21–18	McKernan (JER) W 21–11	Matheson (CAN) L 18–21	Souza (HKG) W 21–4	4
Ivan Kostanich Bob McDonald	Men's pairs	Canada L 12–28	Hong Kong L 16–23	Bye	Samoa W 27–12	England D 19–19	Australia L 17–19	Fiji W 21–14	Northern Ireland W 23–22	Wales W 21–20	Swaziland W 35–12	Papua New Guinea W 22–13	Kenya W 24–15	Scotland L 18–27	Malawi W 31–15	Bye	6
David Baldwin John Malcolm Morgan Moffat Phil Skoglund	Men's fours	Australia W 17–15	Northern Ireland L 16–25	Bye	Scotland W 23–22	England W 19–18	Fiji W 21–13	Guernsey L 23–25	Papua New Guinea W 33–17	Kenya W 27–11	Canada W 26–16	Samoa W 32–8	Hong Kong W 23–16	Wales D 19–19	Zambia W 29–14	Swaziland W 25–14

Athlete	Event	Points	Rank
Brian Cumings	Open trap	155	16
Bruce Lassen	Open trap	177	5
John Woolley	Open skeet	193

Athlete	Event	Heat		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Ian Bullock	Men's 100 m backstroke	1:00.26	9	did not advance
	Men's 200 m backstroke	2:08.81	6Q	2:09.24	8
Andrea Hawcridge	Women's 100 m backstroke	1:06.86	10	did not advance
	Women's 200 m individual medley	2:24.09	8Q	2:27.07	8
Gary Hurring	Men's 200 m backstroke	2:08.42	4Q	2:04.37GR
Melanie Jones	Women's 100 m backstroke	1:06.61	9	did not advance
	Women's 200 m backstroke	2:20.35	6Q	2:21.20	7
Penny McCarthy	Women's 100 m butterfly	1:03.53	5Q	1:02.27
	Women's 200 m butterfly	2:17.65	9	did not advance
Brett Naylor	Men's 100 m freestyle	53.94	19	did not advance
	Men's 200 m freestyle	1:58.36	12	did not advance
	Men's 400 m freestyle	4:03.22	5Q	4:03.59	6
Rebecca Perrott	Women's 200 m freestyle	2:04.66	2Q	2:00.63CR
	Women's 400 m freestyle	4:16.12	2Q	4:16.70
	Women's 800 m freestyle	9:03.34	4Q	8:44.87
	Women's 200 m individual medley	2:20.23	2Q	2:18.70
Paul Rowe	Men's 100 m freestyle	53.63	14	did not advance
	Men's 100 m butterfly	57.22	6Q	56.61	4
Barry Salisbury	Men's 100 m freestyle	53.89	=17	did not advance
	Men's 200 m freestyle	2:00.54	15	did not advance
Barry Salisbury Brett Naylor Ian Bullock Paul Rowe	Men's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay	—		3:35.53	5
Barry Salisbury Ian Bullock Brett Naylor Paul Rowe	Men's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay	—		7:52.00	5
Andrea Hawcridge Melanie Jones Penny McCarthy Rebecca Perrott	Women's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay	—		DQ	6

Athlete	Event	Snatch	Clean and jerk	Total	Rank
Precious McKenzie	Bantamweight	97.5 kg	122.5 kg	220.0 kg
George Newton	Featherweight	NVL	DNF
Phillip Sue	Lightweight	115.0 kg	147.5 kg	262.5 kg
Tony Ebert	Middleweight	NVL	DNF
Brian Marsden	Middle heavyweight	137.5 kg	175.0 kg	312.5 kg
Rory Barrett	Heavyweight	150.0 kg	182.5 kg	332.5 kg	4

Athlete	Event	Elimination rounds				Final round	Rank
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result
Barry Oldridge	Bantamweight	Singh (IND) L 4–0	Dzeladini (AUS) W 0.5–3.5	Barry (CAN) L 4–0	Eliminated	Gill (ENG) L 4–0	4
Raymond Katting	Featherweight	Barry (AUS) W 0–4	Beiler (CAN) L 4–0	Singh (IND) L 4–0	Eliminated		4
Ken Reinsfield	Lightweight	Bye	Walker (JAM) L 4–0	Kumar (IND) L 4–0	Eliminated		5
Stephen Robinson	Welterweight	Singh (IND) L 3.5–0.5	Zilberman (CAN) L 4–0	Eliminated			5
Robert Hoffman	Middleweight	Koenig (AUS) L 4–0	Weir (NIR) L 4–0	Eliminated			6
Nigel Sargent	Light heavyweight	Danier (CAN) L 4–0	L	Eliminated			4
Murray Avery	Heavyweight	Bye	Wishart (CAN) L 3–1	Peache (ENG) W 0–4	Singh (IND) L 4–0	Eliminated

• Team manager –Jack Prestney^[1]
• Assistant team manager –Tay Wilson^[2]
• Women's manager – Marion Jackman^[3]
• Team doctor – Noel Roydhouse^[1]
• Physiotherapists – Peter Stokes, Mark Oram^[4]
• Attache – G. R. Thompson
• Athletics
  • Section manager – Barry Hunt^[3]
  • Coach (track) –Arch Jelley^[3]
  • Coach (field) –Les Mills^[3]
• Badminton section manager –Paul Skelt^[3]
• Bowls section manager –Gordon Jolly^[3]
• Boxing
  • Section manager – C. F. Scott^[3]
  • Trainer –Alan Scaife^[3]
• Cycling
  • Section manager –Gordon Sharrock^[3]
  • Coach (track) –Max Vertongen^[3]
  • Coach (road) –Wayne Thorpe^[3]
  • Mechanic – G. J. Brady^[3]
• Gymnastics
  • Section manager – P. Chan^[3]
  • Coach (men) – M. C. Charteris^[3]
  • Coach (women) – A. J. Holt^[3]
• Shooting
  • Section manager – A. A. Brown^[3]
  • Assistant section manager (full-bore) – Ben Hoban^[3][5]
  • Coach (rapid-fire pistol) – D. H. Stringer^[3]
  • Coach (free pistol) – J. A. Gordon^[3]
• Swimming and diving
  • Section manager – I. N. Chadwick^[3]
  • Chief coach – R. J. McIntyre^[3]
  • Coach (diving) – M. H. Campbell^[3]
• Weightlifting section manager –Bruce Cameron^[3]
• Wrestling
  • Section manager – K. J. Humphrey^[3]
  • Coach – C. L. Palmer^[3]

• New Zealand Olympic Committee
• New Zealand at the Commonwealth Games
• New Zealand at the 1976 Summer Olympics
• New Zealand at the 1980 Summer Olympics

• NZOC website on the 1978 games
• Commonwealth Games Federation website

• New Zealand at the Commonwealth Games
• Nations at the 1978 Commonwealth Games
• 1978 in New Zealand sport
• Canada–New Zealand sports relations

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles with hCards