Drysdale’s Olympic dream set to end
Mahe Drysdale’s hopes of winning a third consecutive Olympic gold single scull medal appear to be over.
It’s understood the 2012 and 2016 Olympic champion won’t be in New Zealand’s men’s single scull boat for this year’s postponed Tokyo Olympics, should they go ahead.
The 42-year-old is believed to have lost his spot in the boat to Jordan Parry after the 25-year-old was the dominant performer in the single scull at the recent Rowing New Zealand elite men’s trials.
Rowing NZ is expected to name its 2021 men’s team – which won’t be the final squad selected for the Olympics; that full squad of women’s and men’s athletes is scheduled to be named in June – tomorrow or Monday ahead of the start of this year’s Maadi Cup national secondary schools regatta.
But with Rowing NZ opting not to send boats to the World Cup regattas in Europe this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s hugely unlikely those chosen already in specific boats will be usurped.
The organisation is also due to announce whether it will send a men’s eight and a men’s quad to contest the 2021 Fisa Final Olympic Qualification Regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland, from May 15-17, with the pandemic creating headaches over health concerns and protocols for the athletes, tricky travel arrangements and the possibility of managed isolation on return which would hamper training for the Games.
Stuff understands the organisation is keen to have the eight chase one of two qualifying places for Tokyo at the regatta, the boat seen as an Olympic medal contender.
In alignment with that, it’s understood Tom Murray and Michael Brake, who won silver in
RIO 2016
the men’s pair at the last world champs in 2019, would be part of the eight if sent to the ‘last chance’ regatta, along with dual Olympic pair gold medallist Hamish Bond.
Drysdale won his first Olympic gold at the 2012 London Olympics, seeing off arch-rival Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic and good friend Alan Campbell of Great Britain. He defended his title in dramatic fashion four years later in Rio de Janeiro when he pipped Damir
Martin of Croatia in a photo-finish.
Drysdale has also won five world championship single scull titles.
The two-time defending Olympic champion recently finished out of the medals at the national championships at Lake Ruataniwha, placing fourth behind winner Jack Lopas, runner-up John Storey and bronze medallist Chris Harris, while Parry was sixth.
Parry, who won gold with the New Zealand men’s quad at the under-23 world championships in 2017 after finishing second the previous two years, is likely seen as a potential future champion rather than a contender at the Tokyo Olympics set to start on July 23, with the Rowing NZ selection panel.
Only two rowers – Finland’s Perttii Karppinen and the Soviet Union’s Vyacheslav Ivanov – have won three consecutive Olympic gold medals in the men’s single scull.
Drysdale also won a gutsy bronze in the same class when ill at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and was aiming to compete at his fifth Olympics in Tokyo.
It’s understood Drysdale also wasn’t selected in the men’s double sculls, with one spot going to Lopas, who also won the men’s double sculls title at the nationals (with Tom Mackintosh) following his return to New Zealand after attending Yale University.
Drysdale could be part of the quad if Rowing NZ elect to send the boat to Lucerne.