Where were you in ’72?

Members of one of New Zealand’s greatest sporting teams have reunited to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their gold medal-winning feat.

On September 2, 1972, at the Munich Olympics, the New Zealand men’s rowing eight beat doubters and dopers to triumph in the sport’s blue riband event.

Images of the crew fighting back tears on the victory dais as God Defend New Zealand was played for the first time in 20 years remain one of the country’s most iconic sporting moments.

Last night in Wellington, five of the crew gathered to remember that race and their victory.

Dick Joyce, Athol Earl, Lindsay Wilson, John Hunter and Tony Hurt were joined by rowers from other Olympic crews and officials from Rowing New Zealand for a special dinner.

Wybo Veldman and Gary Robertson were unable to make the reunion.

Crew member Trevor Coker died from a brain tumour in 1981 aged 31, and cox Simon Dickie, who won medals at three Olympics, died in 2017.

Joyce said the crew had managed some sort of reunion every year since their victory, and while Covid and the death this week of Waikato rowing stalwart and Olympian Gil Cawood had made things difficult, ‘‘there was no way you could let this 50-year milestone go by without doing something’’.

Having won the European championships in 1971, the New Zealand eight entered the Munich regatta as favourites.

‘‘We had a very, very powerful crew,’’ remembered Joyce, ‘‘and believe me, when it put its foot down, it went’’.

But after they were beaten in the semifinals by West Germany, coach Rusty Robertson let loose.

‘‘He called us all the names under the sun. Words like ‘complacent’ and ‘slack bastards’ were all thrown at us.

‘‘It was a wake-up call and all of us took it on board. When we went out for the finals, there was a quiet determination.’’

Dickie told Joyce after the race that even as they rowed to the start line, the boat was fizzing.

‘‘I’m sure that on the day, we were unbeatable,’’ said Joyce.

‘‘It was one of those races where you’re going so well, you start to think, ‘Hey, are they trying to trick us and let us get out in front, and then they’re going to mow us down in the second half?’ ’’

But in the end, New Zealand crossed the line almost a boat length ahead of the United States and East Germany.

In doing so, the crew of amateurs beat rowers who were effectively professionals paid by their country to row, and some from countries with doping programmes for their athletes.

The International Olympic Committee chairman, Avery

Brundage, a passionate defender of amateurism, was so taken with the New Zealanders’ victory, he insisted on presenting their gold medals.

And when the German Army band played God Defend New Zealand instead of the country’s official anthem, God Save the Queen, to everyone’s surprise, Joyce admitted the crew were overwhelmed with emotion.

Scenes of the black-singleted rowers with quivering chins and tear-filled eyes ensured the crew’s place in New Zealanders’ hearts, and Kiwi sporting legend.

Rowing New Zealand president Ivan Sutherland, who presented several of the crew with legacy medals commemorating their achievements, said the Munich eight’s win cemented New

Zealand as an international rowing force, and propelled the sport into the spotlight at home.

‘‘The significance of that event was beating the East Germans, who were proven to be a country of [drug] cheats later – that was no easy task.

‘‘To beat them in those circumstances was a marvellous achievement, and it was hugely inspirational.’’

East Germany won medals in all seven races at the regatta, including pipping New Zealand’s coxless four of Ross Collinge, Dudley Storey, Dick Tonks and Noel Mills, who won silver earlier in the day.

Sutherland later rowed with several of the gold medal-winning crew, and was a member of the eight at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, who won a bronze medal – the last time New Zealand won a medal in the eights until the 2020 Olympics.

Nearly 50 years after the Munich crew’s famous victory, the New Zealand eight again took gold at the Tokyo Games.

A member of that crew, Phillip Wilson, said even though he was born years later, the Munich eight’s win was always talked about in rowing circles.

‘‘It’s something people remember really fondly, and we wanted to recreate that.’’

Wilson was in the boat’s No 6 seat – three in front of the cox – the same seat Joyce occupied in 1972, and said it had been an honour to meet Joyce after they returned from Tokyo.

‘‘It would be great to get both eights together a some point in the future and share the success of the two crews and the legacy both crews have now created for rowing in New Zealand.’’