| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | Leslie James O'Connell[1] (1958-05-23)23 May 1958 (age 67) Timaru, New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 193 cm (6 ft 4 in)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 89 kg (196 lb)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Rowing | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Avon Rowing Club | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Leslie James O'Connell (born 23 May 1958) is a New Zealand former representativerower. He was a two-time world champion and an Olympic champion who won his Olympic gold medal at the1984 Summer Olympics inLos Angeles in the men'scoxless four.
O'Connell was born in 1958 inTimaru, New Zealand.[1] He grew up in the town and started a carpentry apprenticeship in 1974.[2][3] Since 1990, he has lived inChristchurch.[2]
O'Connell learned to row on Saltwater Creek in Timaru, and inTimaru Harbour.[4] In 1978, he was New Zealand champion with Chris Booker in the double sculls for the Timaru Rowing Club.[3] He moved to Christchurch in 1990 so that he could train with the Avon Rowing Club, at the time one of the three main rowing clubs in the country.[2]
At the1982 World Rowing Championships atRotsee, Switzerland, he won a gold medal with the New Zealand eight seated in the bow.[5] At the end of that year, the 1982 rowing eight crew was named sportsman of the year.[6] O'Connell then changed to a coxed four and at the1983 World Rowing Championships inDuisburg, Germany, he won gold withConrad Robertson,Greg Johnston,Keith Trask, andBrett Hollister ascox.[7] He qualified for the1984 Summer Olympics inLos Angeles and was put in a coxless four (the coxed four is not included as an Olympic event), and teamed withShane O'Brien,Conrad Robertson, andKeith Trask. Helped by the absence of theEastern Bloc countries including the favourites from the Soviet Union and East Germany, the New Zealandcoxless four won an unexpected gold medal.[8] At the1985 World Rowing Championships atHazewinkel in Belgium, he came fourth with the coxless four.[9]
O'Connell won further national championships in 1984 (coxless pair) and 1986 (coxless four).[10]
The 1982 men's eight team was inducted into theNew Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.[11] In 2013,The Timaru Herald had a campaign to have missing sports personalities added to Timaru's Hall of Fame, and O'Connell received the most votes from readers of the newspaper.[3][4] As of October 2016, O'Connell has not been added to their Hall of Fame.[12]
O'Connell registered a construction company in November 1990[13] and started operating in 1992.[2]
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | New Zealand Sportsman of the Year 1982 With:Tony Brook,George Keys,Dave Rodger,Mike Stanley,Andrew Stevenson,Chris White,Roger White-Parsons,Andy Hay | Succeeded by |
