Gary Robertson (rower)

Gary Robertson
Personal information
Full nameGary David Robertson
Born12 April 1950 (1950-04-12) (age 74)
Oamaru, New Zealand
Relative(s)Eric Murray (son-in-law)
Rusty Robertson (uncle)
George Paterson (brother-in-law)[1]
Medal record
Men's rowing
Representing  New Zealand
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1972 Munich Eight
World Rowing Championships
Bronze medal – third place 1970 St. Catharines Eight
European Rowing Championships
Gold medal – first place 1971 Copenhagen Eight

Gary David Robertson (born 12 April 1950 in Oamaru, Otago) is a former New Zealand rower who won an Olympic gold medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.

He teamed with Dick Joyce, Wybo Veldman, John Hunter, Lindsay Wilson, Joe Earl, Trevor Coker and Tony Hurt and Simon Dickie (cox) to win the gold medal in the eight. Robertson is one of only two New Zealand Olympic gold medallists who never won a national premier title. Robertson is the nephew of famed New Zealand rowing coach Rusty Robertson.[2] His daughter, who is also a rower, married Olympic champion rower Eric Murray. The Robertsons lived in Australia for a while but returned to live in Cambridge, New Zealand when their daughter was pregnant.[3]

Gary Robertson later worked as a full-time rowing coach in Christchurch.[4] He now coaches at Waikato Diocesan School for Girls, previously Sydney Rowing Club.

  1. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "George Paterson". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012.
  2. ^ "Gary Robertson". New Zealand Olympic Committee. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  3. ^ Jillings, Kasia (21 March 2013). "Eric Murray & Gary Robertson: Our oarsome double". New Idea. Archived from the original on 24 October 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  4. ^ Maddaford, Terry (26 July 2002). "Rowing: Stroking aside the decades". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 22 October 2016.