Connor Bell of athletics, Elliott Connolly of judo, and sailors Justina Kitchen and Molly Meech are on the list of competitors who are expected to receive $15,000 (£11,500/€13,800) over the 18 months.

Rowing’s Georgia Nugent-O’Leary, athletics’ Eddie Osei-Nketia, swimming’s Zac Reid and Eve Thomas and triathlon’s Tayler Reid and Nicole van der Kaay have also been named as recipients of this funding.

Meech is the most experienced of the group having competed at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 and winning silver in Brazil in the 49erFX event.

Thomas, van der Kaay, Tayler Reid and Zac Reid made their Olympic debuts in the Games hosted in the Japanese capital.

Bell, Connolly, Kitchen, O’Leary and Osei-Nketia are seeking to reach their first Olympics.

Kitchen, 32, who is a mother of two, believes the financial boost will be crucial to her target of participating in kiteboarding’s Olympic debut in Paris.

"It’s so helpful in terms of taking away stress, there are a lot of obligations when you have two kids so to have some expenses covered really allows me to focus on training and achieving goals, rather than finances," Kitchen said.

"The Olympics have been a goal for my whole life. I remember being a five-year-old wanting to make it to the Olympics and this funding is really helping my journey there. It’s an awesome opportunity and I’m very thankful."

Bell, who competes in the men’s discus throw, tasted victory in his specialist discipline at the Buenos Aires 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games.

Middle distance swimmer Zac Reid also participated in the event but he was unable to win a medal.

"It’s helping to get me overseas to train and race, and really just easing some of the funding worries that go hand in hand with being an athlete," Reid said.

"I’m really grateful to my sport, the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) and Olympic Solidarity, and I can’t wait to get to Paris and represent New Zealand."

The selected athletes were nominated by their National Federations for their athletic achievement and dedication to competing at the highest level.

The International Olympic Committee’s Olympic Solidarity programme is granting almost $600 million (£461 million/€554 million) in athlete scholarships as well as National Federation coach and athlete development progress for the 2021-2024 Olympic cycle.

The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics version of the scholarship programme also funded ten New Zealand athletes. Of the group, seven made the competition and two won Olympic medals.

At Beijing 2022, Zoi Sadowski-Synnott triumphed in the women’s snowboard slopestyle event to become the first Kiwi to win a gold medal at a Winter Olympics.

Freestyle skier Nico Porteous also succeeded in the men’s halfpipe to secure gold for his country.

With the agenda turned towards Paris 2024, Nicki Nicol, the chief executive of the NZOC said that the Olympic Solidarity programme can now help the country’s summer athletes reach the French capital.

"Congratulations to those selected and thank you to Olympic Solidarity for helping the NZOC assist these athletes as they work towards representing New Zealand at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games," Nicol said.

"We know funding can be a major hurdle for athletes.

"Competing internationally can be costly and these grants allow these athletes further certainty and lighten the load on their Olympic journey."