# New Zealand at the 2020 Summer Paralympics

New Zealand competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan. Originally to be held from 25 August to 6 September 2020, the event was postponed by one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was held from 24 August to 5 September 2021. It was New Zealand's 14th appearance at Summer Paralympics.

## Medallists

| Medal | Name | Sport | Event | Date |
| Gold | Tupou Neiufi | Swimming | Women's 100 metre backstroke S8 | 27 August |
| Gold | Lisa Adams | Athletics | Women's shot put F37 | 28 August |
| Gold | Sophie Pascoe | Swimming | Women's 100 metre freestyle S9 | 31 August |
| Gold | Sophie Pascoe | Swimming | Women's 200 metre individual SM9 | 1 September |
| Gold | Anna Grimaldi | Athletics | Women's long jump T47 | 3 September |
| Gold | Holly Robinson | Athletics | Women's javelin throw F46 | 3 September |
| Silver | Sophie Pascoe | Swimming | Women's 100 metre breaststroke SB8 | 26 August |
| Silver | Danielle Aitchison | Athletics | Women's 200 metres T36 | 29 August |
| Silver | William Stedman | Athletics | Men's long jump T36 | 30 August |
| Bronze | Sophie Pascoe | Swimming | Women's 100 metre backstroke S9 | 30 August |
| Bronze | William Stedman | Athletics | Men's 400 metres T36 | 31 August |
| Bronze | Danielle Aitchison | Athletics | Women's 100 metres T36 | 1 September |

## Competitors

| Sport | Men | Women | Total |
| Athletics | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| Canoeing | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Cycling | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Shooting | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Swimming | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Wheelchair rugby | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| Total | 16 | 13 | 29 |

## Officials

Former Paralympic cyclist and gold medallist Paula Tesoriero was appointed Chef de Mission in 2019.

## Athletics

In May 2021, New Zealand announced a squad of six track and field athletes to compete at the Summer Paralympics — Holly Robinson, Caitlin Dore, Anna Grimaldi, William Stedman, Lisa Adams and Danielle Aitchison. In July 2021, shot putter Ben Tuimaseve was added to the team. In August 2021, sprinter Anna Steven was added to the team.

### Key

* Note–Ranks given for preliminary rounds are within the athlete's heat only.
* Q = Qualified for the next round
* q = Qualified for the next round as a fastest loser
* DQ = Disqualified
* PR = Paralympic record
* WR = World record
* N/A = Round not applicable for the event

### Track

| Athlete | Event | Heats | Heats | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Result | Rank | Result | Rank |
| Danielle Aitchison | Women's 100 m T36 | 14.35 | 1 Q | 14.62 | |
| Danielle Aitchison | Women's 200 m T36 | 30.12 | 1 Q | 29.88 | |
| William Stedman | Men's 400 m T36 | — | — | 54.75 | |
| Anna Steven | Women's 100 m T64 | DQ (WPA 17.8) | DQ (WPA 17.8) | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Anna Steven | Women's 200 m T64 | 28.60 | 5 Q | 28.88 | 8 |

### Field

| Athlete | Event | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Distance | Position |
| Lisa Adams | Women's shot put F37 | 15.12 PR | |
| Lisa Adams | Women's discus throw F38 | 29.69 | 7 |
| Caitlin Dore | Women's shot put F37 | 9.03 | 8 |
| Anna Grimaldi | Women's long jump T47 | 5.76 PR | |
| Holly Robinson | Women's javelin throw F46 | 40.99 | |
| William Stedman | Men's long jump T36 | 5.64 | |
| Ben Tuimaseve | Men's shot put F37 | 13.31 | 9 |

## Canoeing

In June 2021, New Zealand announced a team of two para canoe athletes for the Summer Paralympics — Corbin Hart and Scott Martlew.

### Key

* Note–Ranks given for preliminary rounds are within the canoeist's heat only.
* FA = Qualified for Final A
* FB = Qualified for Final B
* SF = Advanced to Semifinals
| Athlete | Event | Heats | Heats | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals |
| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank |
| Corbin Hart | Men's 200 m KL3 | 43.538 | 6 SF | 42.290 | 5 FB | 44.182 | 5 |
| Scott Martlew | Men's 200 m KL2 | 43.588 | 1 FA | Bye | Bye | 42.880 | 4 |
| Scott Martlew | Men's 200 m VL3 | 55.439 | 6 SF | 51.704 | 3 FA | 54.756 | 8 |

## Cycling

In July 2021, New Zealand confirmed a team of six cyclists to compete at the Summer Paralympics — Stephen Hills, Sarah Ellington, Eltje Malzbender, Rory Mead, Nicole Murray and Anna Taylor.

### Road

| Athlete | Event | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Result | Rank |
| Sarah Ellington | Women's time trial C1–3 | 29:04.08 | 10 |
| Sarah Ellington | Women's road race C1–3 | 1:21:23 | 12 |
| Stephen Hills | Men's time trial T1–2 | 32:26.36 | 8 |
| Stephen Hills | Men's road race T1–2 | 54:13 | 6 |
| Eltje Malzbender | Women's time trial T1–2 | 38:52.55 | 5 |
| Eltje Malzbender | Women's road race T1–2 | DNF | DNF |
| Rory Mead | Men's time trial H2 | 36:53.78 | 5 |
| Rory Mead | Men's road race H1–2 | 2:23:08 | 5 |
| Nicole Murray | Women's time trial C5 | 41:45.50 | 6 |
| Nicole Murray | Women's road race C4–5 | 2:25.27 | 6 |
| Anna Taylor | Women's time trial C4 | DNF | DNF |

### Track

| Athlete | Event | Qualification | Qualification | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Result | Rank | Result | Rank |
| Sarah Ellington | Women's individual pursuit C1–3 | 4:12.506 | 11 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Nicole Murray | Women's 500 m time trial C4–5 | — | — | 37.657 | 6 |
| Nicole Murray | Women's individual pursuit C5 | 3:45.010 | 4 QB | 3.44.482 | 4 |
| Anna Taylor | Women's individual pursuit C4 | 3:54.167 | 5 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Anna Taylor | Women's 500 m time trial C4–5 | — | — | 38.713 | 8 |

## Shooting

In July 2021, New Zealand confirmed the selection of sport shooter Michael Johnson for his fifth Paralympic Games.
| Athlete | Event | Qualification | Qualification | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Score | Rank | Score | Rank |
| Michael Johnson | Mixed R4 – 10 m rifle standing SH2 | 633.7 | 2 Q | 167 | 6 |
| Michael Johnson | Mixed R5 – 10 m rifle prone SH2 | 635.2 | 9 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Michael Johnson | Mixed R5 – 50 m rifle prone SH2 | 620.2 | 13 | Did not advance | Did not advance |

## Swimming

In April 2021, New Zealand announced a squad of five swimmers to compete at the Summer Paralympics — Sophie Pascoe, Cameron Leslie, Jesse Reynolds, Nikita Howarth and Tupou Neiufi. Leslie subsequently withdrew from the Games.

### Key

* Note– Qualifiers for the finals (Q) of all events were decided on a time only basis, therefore ranks shown are overall ranks versus competitors in all heats. Also, ranks shown for those who did not advance are their final ranks.
* PR = Paralympic record
* WR = World record
* N/A = Round not applicable for the event
| Athlete | Event | Heat | Heat | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank | Time | Rank |
| Nikita Howarth | Women's 100 m breaststroke SB7 | 1:36.05 | 3 Q | 1:36.65 | 4 |
| Nikita Howarth | Women's 50 m butterfly S7 | 38.46 | 8 Q | 36.92 | 6 |
| Tupou Neiufi | Women's 50 m freestyle S8 | 32.47 | 4 Q | 31.48 | 5 |
| Tupou Neiufi | Women's 100 m backstroke S8 | — | — | 1:16.84 | |
| Sophie Pascoe | Women's 100 m freestyle S9 | 1:03.75 | 1 Q | 1:02.37 | |
| Sophie Pascoe | Women's 100 m backstroke S9 | 1:11.02 | 3 Q | 1:11.15 | |
| Sophie Pascoe | Women's 100 m breaststroke SB8 | 1:21.75 | 2 Q | 1:20.32 | |
| Sophie Pascoe | Women's 100 m butterfly S9 | 1:09.58 | 3 Q | 1:09.31 | 5 |
| Sophie Pascoe | Women's 200 m individual medley SM9 | 2:34.55 | 1 Q | 2:32.73 | |
| Jesse Reynolds | Men's 100 m backstroke S9 | 1:04.58 | 6 Q | 1:04.60 | 6 |
| Jesse Reynolds | Men's 100 m butterfly S9 | 1:05.64 | 16 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Jesse Reynolds | Men's 200 m individual medley SM9 | 2:24.89 | 7 Q | 2:25.62 | 7 |
| Jesse Reynolds | Men's 400 m freestyle S9 | 4:30.34 | 12 | Did not advance | Did not advance |

## Wheelchair rugby

New Zealand national wheelchair rugby team qualified for the Games for the games by winning the gold medal at the 2019 Asia-Oceania Championship in Gangneung, South Korea.

### Team roster

In May 2021, New Zealand announced a team of eight wheelchair rugby players to be coached by Greg Mitchell: In July 2021, Barney Koneferenisi replaced Cameron Leslie, who withdrew from the Games.
* Hayden Barton-Cootes
* Cody Everson
* Robert Hewitt
* Barney Koneferenisi
* Tainafi Lefono
* Gareth Lynch
* Gavin Rolton (captain)
* Mike Todd
| Squad | Group stage | Group stage | Group stage | Group stage | Semifinal | 7th vs 8th | Rank |
| Squad | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Rank | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Rank |
| New Zealand national team | United States L 63–35 | Great Britain L 37–60 | Canada L 36–51 | 4 | Did not advance | Denmark L 56-53 | 8 |

### Group stage

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | United States | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 171 | 137 | +34 | 6 | Semi-finals |
| 2 | Great Britain | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 158 | 134 | +24 | 4 | Semi-finals |
| 3 | Canada | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 152 | 144 | +8 | 2 | Fifth place Match |
| 4 | New Zealand | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 108 | 174 | −66 | 0 | Seventh place Match |