The 2024 Paris Olympic Games medals displayed inside a custom-designed trunk manufactured by Louis Vuitton. Photo: AFP
There's been a lot of talk about a lack of medals for New Zealand so far at the Pairs Olympics.
Before the Games begun, New Zealand was forecast to finish 16th equal alongside Denmark and Turkey with a total of 14 medals.
Erika Fairweather might be the closest call so far, coming fourth in the 400m freestyle final, she came seventh in the 200m final. Fellow swimmer Lewis Clareburt made it to the final for the 400m individual relay but came eighth.
The equestrian team finished eighth, while Tim Price was the best in the individual competition in sixth place.
The All Blacks Sevens were booted out of medal contention in the quarterfinal, and mountainbiker Sam Gaze was shattered to come in sixth on Tuesday morning.
There was still hope with strong early performances by the rowers and sailors, with the finals yet to come. And the Black Ferns play the USA in the sevens final overnight.
But as we head into day four in Paris, people are starting to ask when the New Zealand flag might be raised in France.
Are we really slow starters?
A quick look at New Zealand's medals at the last five Olympics show it often has been.
At Beijing, Athens and Sydney New Zealand's first medals came after more than a week of competition.
There were rowers like Mahe Drysdale after nine days at Beijing and the Evers-Swindell sisters in Athens also after nine days.
Sydney was a slow start too with Mark Todd in 2000.
Changes in Tokyo and Rio
But recently things have changed a bit.
At Rio in 2016, Natalie Rooney won a silver in women's trap after three days of the summer games.
And most recently Hayden Wilde picked up bronze early in the Tokyo Olympics in triathlon.
Wilde is back in action again tonight, suggesting that perhaps New Zealand fans just need to be patient for a little bit longer.
