| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Warren Joseph Cole |
| Born | (1940-09-12)12 September 1940 Palmerston North, New Zealand |
| Died | 17 July 2019(2019-07-17) (aged 78) Hamilton, New Zealand |
| Height | 184 cm (6 ft 0 in)[1] |
| Weight | 82 kg (181 lb)[1] |
| Sport | |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Sport | Rowing |
| Club | Whakatane Rowing Club[1] |
Medal record | |
Warren Joseph Cole (12 September 1940 – 17 July 2019) was a New Zealandrower who won an Olympic gold medal at the1968 Summer Olympics inMexico City.
Cole was born in 1940 atPalmerston North, New Zealand,[1] and was educated atHamilton Boys' High School.[2] He later lived inWhakatāne, and was a member of the Whakatane Rowing Club.[1][3]
For the1968 Summer Olympics, New Zealand qualified an eight and had a pool of four rowers and a cox as a travelling reserve; Cole 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".[4] 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.[5] Cole won theOlympic coxed four event along withDick Joyce,Dudley Storey,Ross Collinge andSimon Dickie (cox);[6] this was New Zealand's first gold medal in rowing.[4] At the time, Cole was living in Whakatane with his wife and two young children, and selling milking shed equipment. The crew's winning boat was later sold to a rowing club to recoup costs, and ended up in splinters after a road crash.[7]
At the1970 World Rowing Championships inSt. Catharines in Canada, he won a bronze medal with the eight.[8] At the1972 Summer Olympics inMunich he competed again in the coxed four which finished sixth.
Cole worked for the National Dairy Association in marketing and sales. He later moved toHamilton and sold equipment for thedairy industry.[9]
Cole died in Hamilton on 17 July 2019.[2]
