Two themes have been present throughout the Lydia Ko Mixtape: battling through adversity regardless of outside noise and doing so with a smile, with ample positive vibes.

As Ko won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympic games and became the only human with two Olympic golf medals, the young kiwi-Korean wrapped up a fun Olympic campaign for Aotearoa's wahine. You would have noted Ko's cute moments of sporting vibes and you'll probably be seeing lots of headlines about the manner in which Ko conducts herself (sportswomanship?), as we believe that Aotearoa is the greatest sporting nation in the world this isn't anything unique to Lydia Ko.

The lads from Aotearoa won medals and conducted themselves as hearty kiwis, yet the Tokyo Olympics are all about the quartet of Aoteaoa wahine medal-winners who led the charge. Valerie Adams won her fourth Olympic medal and her mana was palpable as the cameras panned around the shot-put loitering area. Adams is not only an excellent athletes who wins Olympic medals, she is known around the athletics world as one of the greatest and yet it was the mana that somehow seeped through the cameras that made me take stock about her journey.

Adams won a bronze medal in Tokyo as a mum. Credit to the entire Adams whanau because they aren't just excellent athletes, they are Aotearoa manifested in human form; a mixture of cultures under the Aotearoa umbrella with pure kiwi down to Earth nature. Adams holds a special spot in the Niche Cache's heart as she went from South Auckland to taking over the athletics world, in the same way that Lisa Carrington went from small-town Aotearoa to Olympic glory.

Carrington's Maori lineage appears to be about as East Coast hardcore as anyone else (Te Aitanga-A-Mahaki and Ngati Porou). Carrington won her 6th Olympic medal in Tokyo and while Aotearoa is a nation surrounded by water, Carrington's work paddling a boat as a Maori wahine hits home more than other athletes in other water sports.

At times, Carrington looked overwhelmed in winning her gold medals. The last of which saw Carrington sit on the pier for minutes with her team as the other medalists were congratulated. Carrington was exhausted, content to kick back as the world around her buzzed and people drifted in and out of congratulations. Just a lady from Ohope who was stacking up Olympic medals.

Nothing about what Ko, Adams or Carrington did was different to the Rugby Sevens wahine. In winning a gold medal, the Sevens ladies represented Aotearoa to the fullest with their cultural identity, their humour, their humanity and their leadership in paving the way for women's rugby. If I asked you about your memories from the Sevens wahine in Tokyo, you'd probably remember their post-match interviews or haka before you tap into their actual rugby mahi on the field.

Rugby Sevens is a team sport, so I couldn't go with the four-wahine toa of Aotearoa angle. In Ko, Adams and Carrington we have three individuals, backed up by a squad of Sevens wahine who by nature of the sport they play are the actual wahine toa of this group. Sarah Hirini, Ruby Tui, Kelly Brazier, Tyla Nathan-Wong and Portia Woodman lead the Sevens wahine and they aren't the type to be sitting behind their squad, letting their squad go into battle first.

Carrington and Adams have history to call upon when debating Aotearoa's greatest athletes. Golf and Rugby Sevens are new sports to the Olympics though, which makes me want to crystalize all of this in the Rio - Tokyo Olympic cycle. Part of this is also due to how the last five years have played out and I'd frame that by asking; think of all the crazy shit that has happened in the last five years?

All four of this Aotearoa sporting quartet won medals in both Rio and Tokyo...

Valerie Adams: Silver, bronze.

Lydia Ko: Silver, bronze.

Lisa Carrington: Gold/bronze, 3 x gold.

Rugby Sevens: Silver, gold.

We can get caught up the colour of medals, consistency and longevity hit harder though. For all of these athletes to win medals in back to back Olympics (let alone more) is a testament to their sporting excellence, which feels heavily compounded by the fact that they have all done so by capturing the spirit and mana that makes Aotearoa the best sports nation in the world. These are the heartiest competitors who would probably hate losing to you in a game of ping-pong, yet when you get them in the Olympic arena those competitive vibes are mixed among empathy and gratitude.

Regardless of how in awe we are of these wahine, nothing about their mana is unique. They are just kiwis being kiwis at the highest level of their respective sporting codes. Kiwis being kiwis also means that we aren't really aware of what makes us special, we tend to shy away from this instead of celebrating our humility, team-first ideals, love and peace. This is all about what makes Aotearoa the greatest sporting nation in the world.

I found it lovely that young Lydia wrapped it all up yesterday. Many of the same mainstream media covering Aotearoa's Olympic campaign were quick to question Ko the moment she encountered adversity, these same media figures questioned Ko's decisions, the close presence of her family and her struggles in general. Throughout all of that Ko kept smiling, maintained her role-model stature for young women and now here she is with back to back Olympic medals across a five-year window that was probably the hardest phase of her life.

Such stories are present in Adams, Carrington and the Sevens wahine. Ko wrapped it all up nicely though and all of the above should serve as inspiration for all kiwis about what's possible when you work hard, be yourself and enjoy what you do.

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