Joseph Sullivan (rower)

Joseph Sullivan

MNZM

Sullivan in 2010
Personal information
Born	(1987-04-11) 11 April 1987 (age 37) Rangiora, New Zealand
Medal record Men's rowing Representing  New Zealand Olympic Games 2012 London Double sculls World Rowing Championships 2010 Karapiro Double sculls 2011 Bled Double sculls World Rowing U23 Championships 2007 Glasgow Single sculls 2008 Munich Single sculls 2009 Račice Double sculls

Joseph Sullivan MNZM (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.^[1][2][3] In his home town, he is known as "the pride of Picton".^[4]

He won back-to-back gold medals in the men's double sculls with rowing partner Nathan Cohen at both the 2010 (at Lake Karapiro, by six hundredths of a second over Germans Hans Gruhne and Stephan Krüger) and 2011 World Rowing Championships (in Slovenia).^[5][6][7] It was the first gold medal win for a New Zealand premier double sculls combination at the world championships.^[6]

At the 2012 Summer Olympics at Eton Dorney, Windsor, Sullivan and rowing partner Nathan Cohen won the gold medal in the men's double scull event.^[8] They broke the Olympic best time in the heats.^[5][9]

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.^[9][10][11] They won with a time of 6 minutes, 31.67 seconds.^[5] They finished ahead of the Italy's Alessio Sartori and Romano Battisti by 1:13 seconds, and Slovenian 2000 Olympic champions and 2004 silver medalists Luka Špik and Iztok Čop came in third.^[5][12] Sullivan and Cohen were awarded a Halberg Award for "New Zealand's Favourite Sporting Moment".^[13]

Sullivan won five consecutive world titles at U23 and Elite World Rowing Championships. In the 2013 New Year Honours, Sullivan was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to rowing.^[14]

In June 2014, Sullivan announced he was retiring from rowing in order to pursue a career with the New Zealand Fire Service as a firefighter based in Auckland.^[15] In 2016, Sullivan joined Emirates Team New Zealand,^[4] 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 in Bermuda.^[16]

References

1. "Joseph Sullivan – 2003 Maadi Cup". Retrieved 5 January 2014.
2. "Joseph Sullivan – 2004 Maadi Cup". Retrieved 5 January 2014.
3. "Joseph Sullivan – 2005 Maadi Cup". Retrieved 5 January 2014.
4. Jones, Peter (30 November 2016). "Sullivan primed, ready for new challenge". The Marlborough Express. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
5. "Jewish rower from New Zealand wins Olympic gold". Haaretz. 4 August 2012. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
6. Logan Savory (21 March 2012). "Rower Nathan Cohen has eye on Olympic prize". Stuff. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
7. Ian Anderson (27 December 2011). "Rowing duo Cohen, Sullivan eye London Olympics". Stuff. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
8. "Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan of New Zealand win Olympic rowing gold in men's double sculls". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2 August 2012.^{[dead link‍]}
9. "Rowing at the 2012 London Summer Games: Men's Double Sculls | Olympics". Sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
10. "World Rowing – Official Website". Worldrowing.com. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
11. "Rowing: Heart problem forces Cohen's withdrawal from summer training". NZ Herald News. 11 September 2013. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
12. "Kiwi double scullers claim Olympic gold medal". The Southland Times. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
13. "50th Westpac Halberg Awards Finalists". Halberg Disability Sport Foundation. Archived from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
14. "New Year honours list 2013". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 31 December 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
15. Alderson, Andrew (5 June 2014). "Rowing: Retiring Sullivan fired up about his new job". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
16. McFadden, Suzanne (11 April 2017). "Olympian brings power to Team NZ". Newsroom. Retrieved 8 June 2017.

External links

• Joseph Sullivan at World Rowing