Video will play in Play now Don't auto playNever auto playAround 60 Kiwi athletes trailed behind New Zealand Olympic team flagbearers Peter Burling and Blair Tuke at today's opening ceremony of the Rio Games. Across the Tasman, Australian commentators calling the opening ceremony have been slammed for disrespecting the small nation of Aruba. He released a statement to inform his fans why he would not take centre stage at the opening ceremony. More than 10,500 athletes are competing during the two-week event, but it just 6,000 chose to march during the opening ceremony. Many New Zealand representatives chose not to participate in the opening ceremony due to impending competition commitments.

Source: New Zealand Herald August 06, 2016 03:47 UTC