Focus on Success

Peter Miskimmin playing Hockey for New Zealand.

"Winning on the world stage is incredibly hard. Not everyone will win a medal [at the Olympic Games]," emphasises SPARC CEO Peter Miskimmin.

"The Games does not respect reputation," he says. "The world champion or world record holder does not always win. That's why all our Olympic medal winners are such phenomenal people. The sacrifices they have made and the obstacles they have overcome are incredible."

But while the Games are the world's supreme (read toughest) multiple sporting event, Miskimmin is confident that the New Zealand Beijing Olympic and Paralympic teams will deliver. "We are better placed now than we were going into Athens. More than ever, we have the right people, the right resources to help the athletes be the best they can be on the day," he asserts.

"A high performance environment is all about winning and succeeding. When SPARC invests, the expectation is that our athletes – at the Games and in other major sports events - will compete with distinction and honour. Honour means that they will give of their best. There is an expectation that they will do well and when that means a medal, or a championship, as a nation we will all celebrate," he says.

Miskimmin is well placed to understand the pressures and quality of the Olympic stage. He went to two Olympic Games: 1984 (Los Angeles) and 1992 (Barcelona), with the men's hockey team. He looks back on those Games - especially the opening ceremony walk into the Los Angeles Coliseum - as moments of "immense pride and great joy".

"More than ever, we have the right people, the right resources to help the athletes be the best they can be on the day"

After retiring from international competition in 1992, he moved into administration and coaching. He went to the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games as Team Leader of Athlete Services in the Games Management Team. His role was to look after the 170 athletes, making sure they had the right environment and support during the Games - so they could perform at their best.

In 2004 he received a Prime Minister's Coach Scholarship and attended the Athens Olympic Games. Now, in 2008, he's off to his fifth Games - with a different focus again. Miskimmin will be at Beijing in the capacity of a sports leader and investor; assessing ways to refine SPARC's investment in high performance sport – with one eye on London (2012).

Clearly, he has been touched by the magic of the Olympic Games in many different ways. He's been a young Kiwi kid with high hopes and heroes; he's been a hungry young athlete; he's been on the sidelines and in the strategy sessions. And as a volunteer and parent, he knows how the Olympics inspire the grass roots of sport.

Peter (left) with the team at the Opening Ceremony of the Los Angeles Olympics, 1984.

"As a kid I had a strong sense of the awe of the Olympic Games," Miskimmin recalls. "I always wanted to go to the Games as an athlete. I've always felt the magic - the inspiration." In fact, he still has the Olympic Games scrapbooks he created as a boy, recording the successes of New Zealand athletes at the Munich and Montreal Games.

As for celebrating success, Miskimmin reflects that it's about more than just national pride. "Sport brings people together. It strengthens families and communities. To a large degree, it's how we think of ourselves as a nation. Success on the world stage captures the wider community. It inspires people to get out and active – it builds a fitter, stronger nation," he says.

"You need the top athletes to show the way for the young up and coming athletes. They are the mentors. Their success provides the inspiration for those who aspire to compete at the Games and world championships. They also inspire people to get off the couch."

He stresses that the world of high performance sport is continually advancing, and the successes of New Zealand athletes should be embraced. "Turn the inspiration into getting involved in your local club," he says. "Or if you're a young athlete, get focused. Be ready to dedicate your life to getting there and making your dreams happen - because that's what it takes!"

Peter Miskimmin was a captain of the New Zealand hockey team. He played 150 test matches for New Zealand and competed at two Olympic Games and two Hockey World Cups. He was twice named New Zealand Hockey Player of the Year.

Miskimmin is a carded coach and he was Sport Wellington Coach of the Year in 2006. Under his coaching, the Wellington Men's National League Hockey Team won three national titles. He has been a Board member of NZOC, the New Zealand Sports Foundation and SPARC as well as Chairperson of the Athletes Commission. He has been President of the Olympian Club of New Zealand since 2000.

He is currently coaching the Junior (Under 21) Black Sticks, and – not least - his children's first 11. "Mount Albert hockey stadium is my second home," he jokes. "Ultimately sport is about the grass roots and about volunteers. New Zealand sport is backed by volunteers, and I'm one of them".

Updated | 31 Oct 2008.

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