Mathew Belcher

Mathew "Mat" Belcher, OAM (born 20 September 1982) is an Australian sailor and a two-time Olympic gold medalist in the 470 dinghy, who currently competes with crew Will Ryan. 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 flag bearer for the closing ceremony of the 2020 Summer Olympics after winning a second gold medal and third successive medal in the 470 class.

Mathew Belcher

Personal information
Born	(1982-09-20) 20 September 1982 (age 42) Gold Coast, Queensland
Height	173 cm (5 ft 8 in)[1]
Weight	62 kg (9 st 11 lb; 137 lb)
Sailing career
Class	420, 470
Coach	Victor Kovalenko
Medal record Sailing Representing  Australia Olympic Games 2012 London 470 class 2020 Tokyo 470 class 2016 Rio de Janeiro 470 class World Championships 2000 La Rochelle 420 2010 The Hague 470 2011 Perth 470 2012 Barcelona 470 2013 La Rochelle 470 2014 Santander 470 2015 Haifa 470 2017 Thessaloniki 470 2018 Brisbane Etchells 2019 Enoshima 470 2016 San Isidro 470
Updated on December 2016

Belcher is considered the most successful Australian Olympic sailor in history, with two gold medals, one silver, and ten world titles to his name.^[2]

Earlier years

Mathew grew up on the Gold Coast, Queensland and therefore was always surrounded by water. He was only six years old when he started sailing in a 10-year-old Sabot (dinghy) tied to the back of his parents' boat.

In 1989 at the age of seven Mathew competed in his first race at the Southport Yacht Club.^[3]

Sailing career

Having won the 420 World Championship in 2000, the feeder class to the 470, while still conducting his school at The Southport School on the Gold Coast, Belcher was given the distinction of carrying the Olympic flag during the closing ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics. At that point, he decided to pursue his dream of becoming an Olympian. Coach Victor Kovalenko invited him to join the Australian 470 sailing squad, where he served as the tuning partner for Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page. As a helmsman, Belcher rose to the #1 ISAF ranking in 2007 but did not qualify for the 2008 Olympics, as Wilmot and Page won the 470 World Championship and went on to represent Australia at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Olympic Games

Together with 2008 Olympic gold medalist Malcolm Page, Belcher won the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London in the 470 class.^[4] Together with Will Ryan, Belcher was runner up in the 2016 Rio Olympics, winning the silver medal in the 470 class.^[5] In the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Belcher and Ryan won the gold medal in the 470 class.^[6]

In October 2022 Belcher announced his retirement from Olympic sailing and will serve as CEO of Zhik, a sailing clothing company.^[7]

Recognition

2012 – Australian Sailing Awards – Male Sailor of the Year (with Malcolm Page)

2013 – Australian Sailing Awards – Male Sailor of the Year (with Will Ryan)

2013 – Australian Institute of Sport Awards – Team of the Year (with Will Ryan)

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

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

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

2019 – Australian Institute of Sport Awards – Team of the Year (with Will Ryan) ^[8]

2021 – Australian Sailing Awards – Male Sailor of the Year (with Will Ryan)^[9]

2022 – Australian Sailing Hall of Fame^[10]