Richard Desborough Burnell (26 July 1917 – 29 January 1995) was an English

rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is ...

who won a gold medal at the 1948 Olympics alongside Bert Bushnell in the

double scull A double scull is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for two persons who propel the boat by sculling with two oars each, one in each hand. Racing boats (often called "shells") are long, narrow, and broadly ...

s. He and his father Charles are the only father and son in Olympic history to have both won gold medals in rowing.Dickie Burnell
sports-reference.com

Career

Burnell was born in Henley-on-Thames the son of

Charles Burnell Charles Desborough 'Don' Burnell, (13 January 1876 – 3 October 1969) was a British rower who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics. Biography Burnell was born at Beckenham, then in Kent. He was educated at Eton College and Magdalen Co ...

who won a gold medal in the eights at the 1908 Summer Olympics. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

and

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

. In May 1939, Burnell was commissioned into the

London Rifle Brigade The London Rifle Brigade was a volunteer regiment of the British Army. History The regiment was first raised in the City of London on 14 December 1859 as 1st London (City of London Volunteer Rifle Brigade) Rifle Volunteer Corps, a rifle volun ...

. He was on the losing Oxford team in

The Boat Race The Boat Race is an annual set of rowing races between the Cambridge University Boat Club and the Oxford University Boat Club, traditionally rowed between open-weight eights on the River Thames in London, England. There are separate men's ...

in 1939. He was a rowing correspondent for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' and wrote several books on rowing matters. He competed for

Kingston Rowing Club Kingston Rowing Club (KRC) is a rowing club in England founded in 1858 and a member club of British Rowing. The club is located on the River Thames at Kingston upon Thames, downstream and north-east of Kingston Bridge and Kingston Railway Bri ...

and in 1946 won the

Wingfield Sculls The Wingfield Sculls is a rowing race held annually on the River Thames in London, England, on the Championship Course from Putney to Mortlake. The race is between single scullers and is usually on the Saturday three to four weeks before the S ...

1948 Summer Olympics

At the 1948 Olympics Burnell won a gold medal with Bert Bushnell in the

s, Burnell and Bushnell having never previously trained together.

Jack Beresford Jack Beresford, CBE (1 January 1899 – 3 December 1977), born Jack Beresford-Wiszniewski, was a British rower who won five medals at five Olympic Games in succession. This record in Olympic rowing was not matched until 2000 when Sir Steve Red ...

told Bushnell that he had no chance to win the single sculls, and so created the double sculls team instead. Their differing physiques – Burnell was 6 ft 4 inches and weighed stone, while Bushnell was 5 ft 10 inches and stone – presented some difficulties in the boat, which Bushnell had to re-rig so that they were able to reach together. The pair only had a month to train for the Games, with animosity between the two due to the difference in their class backgrounds. Bushnell later said in an interview, "There was class tension there and it came from me being bloody awkward." Bushnell struck up a friendship with American rower

John B. Kelly Jr. John Brenden "Jack" Kelly Jr. (May 24, 1927 – March 2, 1985), also known as Kell Kelly, was an American athlete, an accomplished rower, a four-time Olympian, and an Olympic medal winner. He was the son of triple Olympic gold medal winner Jac ...

and Australian Mervyn Wood. The rowers' diets had been increased from the normal 2,500 calories allowed by rationing to a "miner's diet" of 3,600. However, the other teams were having food flown in specially to increase their calorie intake and allow them to train more. Bushnell would invite Kelly and Wood over for dinner, with his guests bringing the food. Bushnell and Burnell both attended the opening ceremony of the 1948 Games, something Bushnell described as "dreadful", as they gave the athletes poorly fitting uniforms and made them stand out in the sun en-masse for three hours. On the Henley Royal Regatta course, they lost to France in the first round, but then won both the

repêchage Repechage (; french: repêchage, "fishing out, rescuing") is a practice in series competitions that allows participants who failed to meet qualifying standards by a small margin to continue to the next round. A well known example is the wild car ...

followed by the semi-final. On 9 August 1948, in front of a home crowd, Bushnell and Burnell competed in the Olympic final against the double scull teams of Uruguay and Denmark. Bushnell nearly missed the final, held at the

Leander Club Leander Club, founded in 1818, is one of the oldest rowing clubs in the world, and the oldest non-academic club. It is based in Remenham in Berkshire, England and adjoins Henley-on-Thames. Only three other surviving clubs were founded prior t ...

in Henley-on-Thames, as stewards would not allow him to enter; he later explained "You see I wasn't a member then – not posh enough". At around the three-minute mark, the British team decided to push for the win, eventually taking it in six minutes and 51.3 seconds, two lengths ahead of the favoured Danish duo of Ebbe Parsner and Aage Larsen (6:55.3) and five ahead of Uruguay (7:12.4). On the jetty they were awarded their medals while standing in their socks. There were no ribbons for the medals due to cost saving measures, and so they were given them in presentation boxes while

God Save the King "God Save the King" is the national and/or royal anthem of the United Kingdom, most of the Commonwealth realms, their territories, and the British Crown Dependencies. The author of the tune is unknown and it may originate in plainchant, b ...

was played by a band.

After Olympics

Burnell won a bronze medal in the eights at the 1950 British Empire Games, and in 1951 he won the

Double Sculls Challenge Cup The Double Sculls Challenge Cup is a rowing event for men's double sculls at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male crews from all eligible rowing clubs. Two clubs may combine to ma ...

at Henley Royal Regatta, together with Pat Bradley. In the early 1980s he was recruited to train rowers in the newly independent nation of

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

. After making two trips to Zimbabwe in 1983 he decided to relocate there permanently and moved to a medium-sized home outside Somerby, Zimbabwe in the region of Zimbabwe called Mashonaland. He remained there for the rest of his life until he died of old age in his home in January of 1995.

Personal life

Burnell and his father

are the only father and son in Olympic history to have both won gold medals in rowing. In 1940 Burnell married Rosalind, a daughter of English Olympic gold medal-winning rower Stanley Garton. They had five children: Peter, John, Edward, Alexandra (“Zandra”), and Elizabeth (“Tizzy”). Burnell's son, Peter, rowed for Oxford in 1962.

Works

Burnell published several books on rowing, including * ''Swing Together: Thoughts on Rowing'' (1952) * ''The Oxford & Cambridge Boat Race, 1829–1953'' (1954) * ''Sculling: With Notes on Training and Rigging'' (1955) * ''Henley Regatta: A History'' (1957)

Legacy

During the run up to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, the BBC produced the film ''

Bert and Dickie As part of the celebrations for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, the BBC produced the film ''Bert and Dickie'' (also called ''Going For Gold: The '48 Games''), depicting Dickie Burnell and Bert Bushnell's achievement at the 1948 Games. Plo ...

'' (also called ''Going For Gold: The '48 Games''), depicting Burnell and Bushnell's achievement at the 1948 Games, with Sam Hoare in the role of Burnell and

Matt Smith Matthew Robert Smith (born 28 October 1982) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as the eleventh incarnation of the Doctor in the BBC series '' Doctor Who'' (2010–2013), Daemon Targaryen in the HBO series '' House of the Dr ...

portraying Bushnell.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burnell, Dickie 1917 births 1995 deaths English male rowers English Olympic medallists Olympic rowers of Great Britain Rowers at the 1948 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Rowers at the 1950 British Empire Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Stewards of Henley Royal Regatta People from Henley-on-Thames People from Wallingford, Oxfordshire Olympic medalists in rowing Rifle Brigade officers British Army personnel of World War II British emigrants to Zimbabwe English emigrants to Zimbabwe Oxford University Boat Club rowers Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics People educated at Eton College Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Commonwealth Games medallists in rowing Military personnel from Oxfordshire London Rifle Brigade officers