Mahe’s ‘oarsome’ career ends
His achievements over almost two decades guaranteed him a lofty spot in the pantheon of this country’s greatest sportspeople.
Fairytales aren’t designed for 42-year-old men. Mahe Drysdale confirmed that yesterday when he retired from rowing, capping a remarkable career which had spanned four Olympic Games and three unforgettable, storybook medals – but not the fifth trip and fourth gong he so desperately sought.
Drysdale wanted to be in Tokyo to defend the men’s single scull title he won in London in 2012 and refused to relinquish for years later in Rio.
But, this year, Father Time beat Father-Of-Three, as 25-yearold Jordan Parry usurped him in the boat, after Robbie Manson had also done post-Rio.
Covid-19, no respecter of ageing bodies, also played a part in delaying the Olympics by a year, but Drysdale continued to fight body and mind in what most felt was a losing battle, but one he refused to abandon.
That’s why he’s one of New Zealand’s greatest Olympians.
There’s never been any quit deep in the lanky frame and huge heart.
The desire that drove him towards what he hoped would be the perfect ending in Tokyo was the same overpowering force that saw him win gold at the world championships in Gifu in 2005 after breaking two vertebrae after a training crash with a waterskier earlier that year.
It almost gained him gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. After battling the effects of losing 4kg in the week leading up to the final from a gastrointestinal virus, Drysdale was overtaken in the last 13 seconds of a seven-minute race, saying later after collapsing when exiting the boat that he couldn’t remember the last 100 metres.
It pushed him to gold in London four years later when he defeated close friends Ondrej Synek and Alan Campbell, despite being injured a month before when hit by a car when on a training bike ride.
Then once more in Rio, when an arthritic back and a race of a lifetime from Croatia’s Damir Martin would not deny him gold.
And one last fight, when another back injury – at the time of the scheduled Tokyo Olympics in 2020 – suggested another year was a row too far.
So, naturally, it was evident too in his retirement announcement on his blog, which contains a sense of stubborn, proud defiance among honest reflection and heartfelt thanks.
His critics will say Drysdale received preferential treatment during his Olympic reign – that he didn’t have to fit the same training schedules as others in the elite programme and was allowed to peak later, at a time when Rowing NZ would not bend to the likes of London gold medallist Joseph Sullivan and Rio gold medal contender Emma Twigg.
Drysdale could answer that he’d already been on the wrong end of such treatment when he had to race Sydney 2000 champion Rob Waddell three times in a head-to-head showdown to find NZ’s men’s single sculler for Beijing. From then on, his reputation could always hinge on his results when it mattered.
Away from the Olympics, the former accountant racked up a lengthy list of world championship titles – five golds, and three silvers – and his achievements over almost two decades guaranteed him a lofty spot in the pantheon of this country’s greatest sportspeople.
Rowing at the highest level has been described as such: After 500 metres, your entire body is screaming at you to stop. It’s your job to deny it that pleasure for another 1500 metres.
Drysdale’s body has been imploring him to stop for years. But only he had earned the right to finally concur.