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Olympic champions Peter Burling and Blair Tuke were recognised in the New Year’s Honours list by being named Members of the Order of New Zealand for services to sailing.
(Peter Burling and Blair Tuke won every major regatta in the 49er class between the 2012 London Olympics and this year's Rio Games. Photo: Sailing Energy/World Sailing)
The pair put together an incredible record following their silver medal in the 49er class at the 2012 London Olympics. They won every major regatta they sailed in the skiff after the London Games – a record of 28 regattas – including four consecutive world titles and this year’s Rio Olympics.
The only regatta they didn’t win in this period was when they finished third in a short pre-Olympic event.
They won Olympic gold with two races to spare and eventually finished a mammoth 43 points ahead of their nearest rivals, the most of any sailing class in the Olympics since the modern scoring system was introduced in 1968.
The pair’s exploits saw them named 2015 World Male Sailors of the Year and their achievements have now been recognised in the New Year’s Honours list.
"It was an amazing honour to cap off an amazing year," Burling said. "When I started competing, it was pretty cool to see New Zealanders doing well on the world stage so hopefully it can inspire some people to get into sailing.
"This has been the best year we've had. Most years have been better than the one before. It's been a massive four years. It was amazing what we did in Rio and it pretty much went exactly how we wanted it to go."
Burling and Tuke, who both carried the New Zealand flag at the Rio Olympics opening ceremony, have shifted their focus in the meantime to next year’s America’s Cup. Burling is helmsman for Emirates Team New Zealand’s bid to win the Cup and Tuke is a trimmer.
"We think we are in pretty good shape," Burling said of their campaign. "It would be pretty cool to achieve our goal of bringing the America's Cup back to New Zealand."
New Zealand Olympic Committee president Mike Stanley, who was today named a Companion of the New Zealand rder of Merit, congratulated Burling and Tuke.
"Their achievements at the Rio Olympics are now part of New Zealand's sporting history and will go on to not just inspire pride and excellence in our country today, but will become part of our culture and identity," he said.
