From athletics, cycling, canoe racing, rowing and yachting to several smaller sports, the Goldmine Innovation team worked on 63 projects for summer sports across the Paris cycle.
HPSNZ Head of Innovation, Simon Briscoe, says the contribution of innovation was significant and, in many respects remarkable, due to the compressed three-year cycle leading up to Paris.
“A real highlight for us is the number of cross sport projects we undertook,” says Simon. “The biggest number of projects were the 18 which impacted more than one sport, for example, an innovation with some gym equipment that benefited power-based sports across the spectrum.”
While Simon and his team of engineers are delighted at the way they were able to support New Zealand’s Paris 2024 athletes, he says the team switched its attention to Los Angeles 2028 some three to six months before Paris.
“Now is the key time in the innovation planning and development process and we want to use the full four-year cycle to support our athletes.”
Simon gives a big shout out to some key partners who work alongside the Innovation team.
“Cub Digital have been important partners in some video projects and the role of One Studio in apparel innovations is invaluable. Our working relationships with a number of tertiary institutions including University of Auckland, AUT University, Waikato University and University of Canterbury are integral to our work.”
In addition, Simon says the financial support from some very generous philanthropists makes a huge difference.
“Furthermore, we have had ongoing support from the NZSFCT (New Zealand Sports Foundation Charitable Trust) which has enabled world class research to support the athletes and coaches.”
As the Goldmine Innovation team looks to the next cycle, Simon says the increased capability of the innovation workshop is exciting.
“We have increased our ability to do rapid prototyping and to tighten the loop of prototype iterations. It also means we can invite sports who have the ability to medal to make greater use of our engineers and the workshop capability.”
