By Laura McQuillan
The countdown to this year's Olympics has just ticked past six months to go, but while Kiwi athletes are busy finalising their preparations, Rio is still scrambling to get ready, and now the host city faces another challenge with Zika virus.
On looks alone, Rio de Janeiro is the perfect setting for the world's largest sporting event, but the city's Olympic preparations have been anything but a stroll on the beach.
Eighteen months ago, the games were in crisis, with construction falling weeks behind schedule, prompting scathing criticism from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
"This is worse than Athens," IOC vice president John Coates told journalists in April 2014.
"It's the worst that I've experienced, but again, we just have to make it happen."
The IOC brought in its own experts to micromanage the preparations, and Rio has turned things around.
Nearly all the sporting venues and a luxury athletes' village are approaching completion, and two dozen events to test the venues have taken place so far.
Rio 2016 organisers say the criticism was the push they needed.
"It's good to be under pressure; it's good to have certainty that we are capable to deliver last-minute – sometimes a little bit scary," Rio 2016's general manager of venues, Gustavo Nascimento says.
But the cycling velodrome is lagging behind. The track hasn't been installed, and a test event scheduled for next month has been pushed back six weeks.
New Zealand Olympic chef de mission Rob Waddell is watching the progress closely.
"The challenge for us, I guess me, personally, is I'm not a construction expert, so you do look at something and go, 'It doesn't look finished, but how long will it take?'" Waddell says, with a laugh.
But he's had assurances everything will be ready for the games in August.
"We've got confidence that although there's still a job to be done, it looks like it's going to be on track."
Rugby is making an Olympic comeback after 92 years, in the form of sevens. Its stadium is only temporary, but the organisers promise it will be world-class.
"I can tell all New Zealand rugby fans that we're going to have a fantastic pitch," Mr Nascimento says.
But one venue won't be up to scratch in time for the games. The bay where triathletes, swimmers and sailors will compete looks postcard perfect, but the water is full of bacteria and viruses from raw sewage and floating rubbish.
Organisers maintain the water is safe for the athletes, but they admit it's far from perfect.
"Guanabara Bay needs special attention until the last minute," Rio 2016's communications director, Mario Andrada, says.
Now, Rio has a new problem – an outbreak of the mosquito-borne Zika virus, which has been linked to birth defects in thousands of Brazilian babies, and Olympic teams are worried.
"It is a concern. It's another big variable that we look at ... and we're doing everything we can for our athletes to stay healthy and well," Mr Waddell says.
That includes keeping them safe from Rio's notorious violent crime, following attacks on tourists on the city's beaches.
Security officials promise there'll be no repeat attack during the Olympics, with 85,000 police officers, soldiers and guards patrolling the city.
Rio has got six months left to get everything in gold-medal shape. But while it's no longer the worst-prepared host of all time, the organisers aren't relaxing just yet.
"I don't think it's going to go down to the wire, but I think we're going to have to keep our fingers crossed all the way to the closing ceremony," Mr Andrada says.
Newshub.