Paris Olympics: It's not only medals that leave French impressions

Opinion: As the Olympic flame floats back to earth for the final time RNZ looks back on some lasting impressions Kiwi athletes have made on us in the last two weeks.

The team is returning to Aotearoa with 20 medals, an extraordinary performance for a tiny nation, as Olympic champion Hamish Carter reminded us last week.

Both joy and disappointment were evident over the course of the Games and it was how some handled either success or regret that provided some of the most vivid moments.

The measure of a man

Everyone loves a winner, the saying goes. But shouldn't they also admire a person who loses out on the prize he most wanted and immediately accepts it with grace and great sportsmanship?

Such was the attitude of triathlete Hayden Wilde.

Commentators had already called the win for the New Zealander but from some distance away Great Britain's Alex Yee found the energy for one last surge.

It was so cruel but instead of throwing a hissy fit or shedding tears Wilde sat down beside his long-time rival and mate and put his arm around him in one of the most powerful images to emerge from the Games.

It leaves a lasting impression of a standout athlete but also a champion man.

The central Otago hero

Everything to do with Finn Butcher. Firstly, there was Nana Val bursting with pride as she completed another all-night marathon to ensure she didn't miss a beat as her grandson became an Olympic champion.

"He got a big cheer from all of us. We got some flags from the $2 shop and waved them around," the postmistress from Ophir told First Up.

Then there's Butcher's admission to RNZ's Barry Guy that he rode the Paris Metro with "a big shiny thing" around his neck and it caused "mayhem" when it was spotted. He's also contemplating a tour of Central Otago to share his gold medal because they've all been there for him. After a couple more international regattas it would be "the next most important thing on the calendar", he said.

And rounding it off, the superb commentary of former British rowing Olympian Martin Cross. Who can forget him turning the Kiwi into The Butcher as he saw off the challenge of the hot favourite and three-time world champion Joe Clarke of Great Britain in that final race?

Mum power

Double scullers Lucy Spoors and Brooke Francis winning the gold medal while their toddlers were playing somewhere nearby at the rowing.

Not only was it their first win together, accomplished on the biggest possible platform, but they did a shout out for the nation's mothers.

"I think about my friends who are mothers, and what they go through every day. Mums are incredible," Spoors told Sky Sport.

As those two were - recovering from childbirth, breastfeeding and sleep disruptions to train and compete at the highest level - little wonder Francis cried on the dais as the reality of their achievement began to hit her.

There may well be mums who would struggle to find the energy for a walk to the park, however, these two were quick to acknowledge the support they had received from their own families and their sport to make it happen for them.

And an honourable mention too for five-time Olympian Emma Twigg, a hard-fought silver and the joy of at last seeing her son Tommy even though "he did not give a shit [about the race]".

Did I really do that?

New Zealand speed climber Julian David set a personal best to reach the Olympic quarterfinals in Paris and in the process beat a former world champion.

The look on the teenager's face said it all.

He was frank about the challenge he faced in his next climb against US world record holder Sam Watson.

"I versed him back in Dallas at Youth Worlds and I got my arse kicked," he said - and so it proved but he played his part in ensuring sport climbing was a big hit at its debut Games.

Giving yourself a fail

Portia Woodman-Wickliffe has been hailed as the best sevens player ever but it's fair to say she wasn't at her best in the gold medal match.

"I think I played my worst game out there - a yellow card and another penalty. Man, that was terrible, I thought I learned my lesson from Rio," she told media afterwards.

And on life after the sevens circuit?

"Lounging on the couch, eating Maccas and KFC and popping out babies", she reckoned.

Note to all rugby players - deliver us some colour and let your personality show in those post-match interviews.

The hair

The Māori artwork on the front of the K4 boat named Purapura Whetu emphasised the togetherness of the K4 crew.

The weaving of the four strands signified the importance of the four paddlers working as one, Lisa Carrington explained.

"The stronger you weave the tighter the rope is, which means for us it's how do we work together."

That carried over to their hair too - braiding each other's hair before heading out the door to go and strike gold.

And gold medallist Lydia Ko turned heads with her chic hairstyle held together with a hairpiece of tees.

That smile

Eight years on from her Olympic debut, Eliza McCartney re-entered the Games arena much the same way she left it - joyous, exuberant, awestruck, RNZ's Dana Johannsen wrote.

Pole vaulting has caused McCartney torment and "absolute emptiness", yet what we saw at the Stade de France last week was a young woman who was expressing her joy at the privilege of competing in her sport even if it didn't reward her with the medal she had hoped for.

Which brings me back to Carter.

"On a global scale we're so tiny - it amazes me that we can continue to be so good at this."

And he didn't just mean those who were packing medals into their cabin bags.

"It's just remarkable what an amazing team we have," he said.