Mathew "Mat" Belcher, (born 20 September 1982) is an Australian sailor and a two-time Olympic gold medalist in the

470 __NOTOC__ Year 470 ( CDLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Iordanes (or, less frequently, year 1223 '' ...

dinghy, who currently competes with crew Will Ryan. In 2011, following World Championship and World Cup success, he and Malcolm Page were shortlisted by the

International Sailing Federation International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

for the

ISAF World Sailor of the Year Awards The World Sailor of the Year Awards were launched in 1994 by World Sailing (formerly the International Sailing Federation) to reward individual sailors for outstanding achievements in the sport. The awards have been sponsored by Rolex Rolex ...

. Belcher was selected as the Australian flag bearer for the closing ceremony of the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

after winning a second gold medal and third successive medal in the

470 class The 470 (Four-Seventy) is a double-handed monohull planing dinghy with a centreboard, Bermuda rig, and centre sheeting. Equipped with a spinnaker, trapeze and a large sail-area-to-weight ratio, it is designed to plane easily, and good teamwork is ...

. Belcher is regarded as the most successful Australian Olympic sailor in history with two gold and one silver medal, adding to his 10 world titles.

Earlier years

Mathew grew up on the Gold Coast, Queensland and therefore was always surrounded by water. He was only six years old when he started sailing in a 10-year-old

Sabot (dinghy) The Sabot is a sailing dinghy that is sailed and raced singlehandedly usually by young sailors in various parts of the world. The boat is suitable for amateur production. Early models were usually made from plywood. More recent models have be ...

tied to the back of his parents' boat. In 1989 at the age of seven Mathew competed in his first race at the Southport Yacht Club.

Sailing career

Having won the

420 420 may refer to: * 420 (number) * 420 (cannabis culture), informal reference to cannabis use and celebrations on April 20 **California Senate Bill 420 or the Medical Marijuana Program Act *AD 420, a year in the 5th century of the Julian calendar * ...

World Championship in 2000, the feeder class to the 470, while still conducting his school at The Southport School on the Gold Coast, Belcher was given the distinction of carrying the Olympic flag during the closing ceremony of the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

. At that point, he decided to become an Olympian. Coach

Victor Kovalenko Victor Kovalenko OAM ( uk, Віктор Коваленко; born 5 August 1950) is Ukrainian sailor & coach, now the head coach of the Australian Olympic Sailing Team. Referred as "The Medal Maker," Kovalenko has coached men and women sailors t ...

invited him onto the Australian 470 sailing squad where he became the tuning partner for

Nathan Wilmot Nathan James Wilmot (born 13 December 1979) is a sailor, and a member of the Australian sailing team. He has won five world titles along with teammate Malcolm Page in the 470 class. They also won the Olympic test event in Qingdao in 2007 and ...

and Page. As a helmsman, Belcher rose to the #1 ISAF ranking in 2007 but did not qualify for the 2008 Olympics when Wilmot and Page won the 470 World Championship and then went on to represent Australia at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

in Beijing.

Olympic Games

Together with 2008 Olympic gold medalist Malcolm Page, Belcher won the gold medal at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in London in the

. Together with Will Ryan, Belcher was runner up in the 2016 Rio Olympics, winning the silver medal in the 470 class. In the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Belcher and Ryan won the gold medal in the 470 class. In October 2022 Belcher announced his retirement from Olympic sailing and will serve as CEO of Zhik, a sailing clothing company.

Recognition

2012 – Australian Sailing Awards – Male Sailor of the Year (with Malcolm Page) 2013 – Australian Sailing Awards – Male Sailor of the Year (with Will Ryan) 2013 – Australian Institute of Sport Awards – Team of the Year (with Will Ryan) 2014 – Australian Sailing Awards – Male Sailor of the Year (with Will Ryan) 2015 – Australian Sailing Awards – Male Sailor of the Year (with Will Ryan) 2019 – Australian Sailing Awards – Male Sailor of the Year (with Will Ryan) 2019 – Australian Institute of Sport Awards – Team of the Year (with Will Ryan) 2021 – Australian Sailing Awards – Male Sailor of the Year (with Will Ryan) 2022 –

Australian Sailing Hall of Fame Australian Sailing Hall of Fame was established in 2017 by Australian Sailing in collaboration with the Australian National Maritime Museum The Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM) is a Australian government, federally operated maritime mu ...

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Belcher, Mathew 1982 births Living people Australian male sailors (sport) Sailors at the 2012 Summer Olympics – 470 Sailors at the 2016 Summer Olympics – 470 Sailors at the 2020 Summer Olympics – 470 Olympic sailors of Australia Olympic medalists in sailing Olympic gold medalists for Australia Olympic silver medalists for Australia Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics ISAF World Sailor of the Year (male) 420 class world champions 470 class world champions Etchells class world champions World champions in sailing for Australia Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia 21st-century Australian people