University athletes’ sweet Olympic success

“Surreal” is how Theresa Setefano describes being a back-to-back Olympic gold medallist.

The University of Auckland Bachelor of Health Sciences student followed up a gold at the Tokyo Olympics with another in Paris as a member of New Zealand’s women’s rugby Sevens team, taking out the final against Canada 19-12. The veteran of three Olympics (winning silver at Rio in 2016) says winning gold in Paris “is still sinking in” after a challenging lead-up to the games.

“It has been a tough three-year campaign, so it took a lot out of us all,” she says. “Over those years came injuries, a surgery, recovering from illness and the challenges that come with [being part of] a competitive high-performance team.”

Setefano says having her husband, parents and best friend in the crowd for support helped spur her to success, and she was able to spend some time exploring the city with them following the games.

“Paris did an amazing job,” she says. “The atmosphere in the stadium and around the city was something hard to describe, with such big crowds - when there were none in Tokyo - and surrounded by historic European buildings.”

Fellow Kiwi medallist Will McKenzie, a mechanical engineering alumnus who won Sportsman of the Year at the University’s 2023 Blues Awards, was feeling similarly struck by success, after winning silver in sailing, competing in the 49er class with teammate Isaac McHardie.

McKenzie was based in Marseille for the Olympic regatta, which involved 13 races, competing in very different conditions to those of the Waitematā.

“It has been such a long journey to get here and believing that we could do it, so to have achieved our dream and have it behind us still feels amazing,” he says. “We felt like we came to the Olympics with a very complete campaign and confident that we could perform in any condition that Marseille threw at us.”

The team’s Olympic preparation included spending around four weeks a year in Marseille for the past three years to get comfortable with local conditions. That familiarity allowed him to enjoy the Olympics as a semi-local – something he cites as a standout experience from the games, beyond the medal win.

“The highlight would've been just getting to experience the daily life in France and settling into a routine. Being able to get fresh bread and croissants at the local bakery every morning was very special.”

McKenzie stayed in Marseille after his racing was over to help the rest of the New Zealand sailors.

“It was only once all the sailors had finished racing that we celebrated properly with our entire team.”

Then he headed to Paris for the closing ceremony and got to check out the Olympic village.

“It was extremely cool meeting the rest of the New Zealand team athletes and support staff based in Paris, and the closing ceremony was very special too.”

Because the Sevens finished so early in the Olympic schedule, Setefano’s team all headed off soon after, travelling, heading to play league in Australia with the NRLW or returning home. Setefano and her husband took a holiday in Greece with family and friends, then visited family in Brisbane.

She is now enjoying some much-needed time off at home and hopes to get back into her Bachelor of Health Science studies next year.

McKenzie says his next challenge is to find a job in Sydney, putting what he learned during his degree to use in the corporate world.

“I want to experience the working life for a bit before I make a decision on whether I go again at the LA 2028 Olympics,” he says. “So, my plan is to find an engineering-based job. With the Olympics, I haven’t had much time to look, but that’s about to change.”

Other students and alumni who excelled in Paris were Commerce student Thomas Saunders in the ILCA7 sailing event, who was seventh overall, and Commerce student Grant Clancy who made the A final in the K4 500 kayaking. Alumna Imogen Ayris also made the A final in the pole vault and jumped a personal best of 4.6m.

The High Performance Support Programme, Campus Life and the whole of the University of Auckland congratulates all students and alumni who competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics. You did us proud.