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 A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed by a larger vessel for use as a tender. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor. Some are rigged for sailing but they differ from sailing dinghies, which ...

, who currently competes with crew

Will Ryan William Frank Ryan (May 21, 1949 – November 19, 2021) was an American voice actor, musician and singer. He provided the voice of Petrie in the 1988 animated film ''The Land Before Time''. He was also known for his voice work as Eugene Meltsner ...

. In 2011, following World Championship and World Cup success, he and Malcolm Page were shortlisted by the International Sailing Federation for the ISAF World Sailor of the Year Awards. Belcher was selected as the

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

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 1 ...

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 i ...

. 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 Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

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 Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Iris ...

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 , motto_translation = Let him who deserves the palm of victory bear it. , established = , type = Independent early learning, primary and secondary day and boarding school , denomination = Anglican , headmaster = Andrew Hawkins , fou ...

on the

, 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 ...

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

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

Olympic Games

Together with 2008 Olympic gold medalist Malcolm Page, Belcher won the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in the

. Together with

, 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

) 2013 –

Australian Institute of Sport Awards Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) was opened in 1981. AIS Sports Star of the Year (later named AIS Athlete of the Year) was first established in 1983/84 with the first winner being swimmer Karen Phillips. In 1995, AIS Junior Athlete of the Year ...

– Team of the Year (with

) 2014 – Australian Sailing Awards – Male Sailor of the Year (with

) 2015 – Australian Sailing Awards – Male Sailor of the Year (with

) 2019 – Australian Sailing Awards – Male Sailor of the Year (with

) 2019 –

– Team of the Year (with

) 2021 – Australian Sailing Awards – Male Sailor of the Year (with

) 2022 – Australian Sailing Hall of Fame

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