Joseph Sullivan (born 11 April 1987) is a New Zealand rower. As a student at Queen Charlotte College in Picton, Sullivan competed at the 2003, 2004 and 2005 national secondary school rowing championships (Maadi Cup). He was a member of the crews that won the boys under-18 double sculls for the school three years running, and won the boys under-18 single sculls events in 2004 and 2005. In his home town, he is known as "the pride of Picton". He won back-to-back gold medals in the men's

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 with rowing partner Nathan Cohen at both the 2010 (at

Lake Karapiro Lake Karapiro () is an artificial reservoir lake on the Waikato River at Karapiro, south-east of Cambridge in New Zealand's North Island. The lake was formed in 1947 by the damming of the Waikato River to store water for the 96-megawatt Karapir ...

, by six hundredths of a second over Germans

Hans Gruhne Hans Gruhne (born 5 August 1988) is a German rower. He won gold as part of the German team in the men's quadruple sculls at the 2016 Rio Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sp ...

and Stephan Krüger) and 2011 World Rowing Championships (in

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

). It was the first gold medal win for a New Zealand premier double sculls combination at the world championships. At the 2012 Summer Olympics at

Eton Dorney Dorney Lake (also known as Eton College Rowing Centre, and as Eton Dorney as a 2012 Summer Olympics venue) is a purpose-built rowing lake in England. It is near the village of Dorney, Buckinghamshire, and is around 3 km (2 miles) west of ...

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

, Sullivan and rowing partner Nathan Cohen won the gold medal in the men's

event. They broke the Olympic best time in the heats. In the finals they were in last place at the 500 m mark, in fifth place at the 1000 m mark, in fourth at the 1500 m mark, and then sprinted as the line approached to take first for the victory, with a last quarter of 1:33. They won with a time of 6 minutes, 31.67 seconds. They finished ahead of the Italy's

Alessio Sartori Alessio Sartori (born 13 November 1976) is an Italian competition rower and Olympic champion. Biography He received a gold medal in quadruple sculls at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, together with Agostino Abbagnale, Simone Raineri, and R ...

and

Romano Battisti Romano Battisti (born 21 August 1986) is an Italian yachtsman and former rower, who won silver medal in double sculls at the 2012 Summer Olympics, with Alessio Sartori. Biography Paired with Francesco Fossi at the 2016 Rio Olympics, he came in ...

by 1:13 seconds, and Slovenian 2000 Olympic champions and 2004 silver medalists

Luka Špik Luka Špik (born 9 February 1979 in Kranj, SR Slovenia) is a Slovenian rower and Olympic gold medalist. At the 2005 World Championship, he won gold in the Double Sculls event together with Iztok Čop and silver in the Quadruple Sculls with Iz ...

and

Iztok Čop Iztok Čop (born 17 June 1972) is a Slovenian rower and Olympic gold medalist. Biography Čop was born in Kranj, SR Slovenia, and started rowing at the age of 13 in Bled, where Slovenia's best rowing club is located. ...

came in third. Sullivan and Cohen were awarded a Halberg Award for "New Zealand's Favourite Sporting Moment". Sullivan won five consecutive world titles at U23 and Elite World Rowing Championships. In the

2013 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2013 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrat ...

, Sullivan was appointed a

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

for services to rowing. In June 2014, Sullivan announced he was retiring from rowing in order to pursue a career with the

New Zealand Fire Service The New Zealand Fire Service ( mi, Whakaratonga Iwi, "Service to the People"; also known as the NZFS) was New Zealand's main firefighting body from 1 April 1976 until 1 July 2017 – at which point it was dissolved and incorporated into the new ...

as a firefighter based in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

. In 2016, Sullivan joined Emirates

Team New Zealand Team New Zealand or TNZ is a sailing team based in Auckland, New Zealand representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. Team New Zealand became a household name in their home country following their consecutive wins in the America's Cup i ...

, as a grinder a (i.e. spinning the handles that produce hydraulic pressure to move the boat's wings and daggerboards), for the

2017 America's Cup The 2017 America's Cup was the 35th staging of the America's Cup yacht race. The challenger, Emirates Team New Zealand, won by a score of 7 to 1 over the defender, Oracle Team USA. It was held on the Great Sound in Bermuda from June 17 to June 2 ...

in Bermuda.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, Joseph 1987 births Living people Rowers from Picton, New Zealand New Zealand male rowers Rowers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for New Zealand in rowing Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics People from Rangiora People educated at Queen Charlotte College World Rowing Championships medalists for New Zealand Team New Zealand sailors New Zealand male sailors (sport) 2017 America's Cup sailors New Zealand firefighters