New Zealand Olympics team captain Nick Willis says all the athletes will feed off the first gold medal win by men's double scullers Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan.
Willis, who is competing in his third Olympics, said New Zealand seemed to have a very slow start at the Games four years ago in Beijing.
But the day before his 1500 metre race, he said the team suddenly started picking up a slew of medals and strong overall placings.
''When that happens you feed off the other strong performances and have the belief that even though you're from a small country, you can compete with the best in the world,'' he said.
