Lucy Oliver

Rio was Lucy's second Olympic Games, having competed in London 2012 in the 1500m.

Lucy ran well in London qualifying for the 1500m semi-final, finishing 23rd overall. She is New Zealand's second fastest ever women's 1500m runner.

Lucy represented New Zealand at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games under her maiden name of Van Dalen, running in both the 1500m and 5000m finishing 14th overall in the 1500m and 13th in the longer race.

Since Glasgow, Lucy has had a break to let some injury issues clear and she has come back strongly, running a personal best 15:20.13 to qualify for Rio. The time is the fifth fastest by a New Zealand woman.

Lucy won the prestigious NCAA indoor mile title in USA in 2012 and won the New Zealand 1500m title the following year.

First coached by Alec McNab at Wanganui Collegiate, Lucy switched to Andy Ronan when she took up a scholarship at Stony Brook University in New York.

Since the Commonwealth Games in 2014, Lucy has been coached by Adrian Blincoe in Auckland.

Lucy, originally with Athletics Wanganui now lives in Auckland and competes for North Harbour Bays Athletics.

Career highlights:

2012 London Olympic representative 1500m
2014 Commonwealth representative 1500m & 5000m
World Indoor representative 3000m 2015
NZ 1500m Champion 2013, Silver medallist 2016 (3000m)
2nd fastest NZ woman over 1500m 
2016 Best  15:20.13 (June)

Personal Best  5000m 15:20.13