| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Richard John Joyce (1946-05-01)1 May 1946 (age 79) Wellington, New Zealand |
| Height | 194 cm (6 ft 4 in)[1] |
| Weight | 89 kg (196 lb)[1] |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Rowing |
Medal record | |
Richard John Joyce (born 1 May 1946) is a former New Zealandrower who won two Olympic gold medals during his career.
Joyce was born in 1946 inWellington, New Zealand.[1] For the1968 Summer Olympics, New Zealand qualified an eight and had a pool of four rowers and a cox as a travelling reserve; Joyce was part of this reserve. Preparations were held inChristchurch at Kerr's Reach on theAvon River. The reserve rowers were unhappy with the "spare parts" tag and felt that they were good enough to perhaps win a medal if put forward as a coxed four. The manager,Rusty Robertson, commented about them that they were "the funniest looking crew you've ever seen".[2] There were stern discussions with the New Zealand selectors. In a training run, the coxed four was leading the eight over the whole race. In the end, the reserve rowers got their way and New Zealand entered both the coxed four and the eight.[3] Joyce won the Olympic coxed four event along withDudley Storey,Ross Collinge,Warren Cole andSimon Dickie (cox);[4] this was New Zealand's first gold medal in rowing.[2] He was 22 and had just finished his mechanical engineering degree. The crew's boat was sold to a rowing club to recoup costs, and ended up in splinters after a road crash.[5] At the1972 Summer Olympics inMunich he teamed withTony Hurt,Wybo Veldman,John Hunter,Lindsay Wilson,Joe Earl,Trevor Coker,Gary Robertson andSimon Dickie (cox) to win the eights.
Joyce is one of only fifteen New Zealanders to have won two or moreOlympic gold medals. He later owned an engineering business inSeaview, anindustrial suburb ofLower Hutt.[6] He has always been associated with the Hutt Valley and belongs to the Hutt Valley club, but has moved and as of 2012 lived inPorirua.[7] He is a life member of Wellington Rowing Club and currently coaches its masters squad.
