Olympic Sailor A Credit To Far North
Kerikeri sailor Blair Tuke's silver medal achievement at the London Olympics has "made the Far North proud," Mayor Wayne Brown said today.
Tuke's medal-winning performance in partnership with Tauranga's Peter Burling in the relatively new and high-speed 49er class was confirmed on Wednesday night following the final race in the Olympic series.
It was the first medal for Northland-based Olympic contenders for 16 years and the 100th medal New Zealand has won in the history of the Olympic Games.
The pair had established an almost invincible silver medal position prior to the final race, but the team was similarly out of touch with the Australian duo which took the gold medal.
Blair, a former Kerikeri High School student, was Sportsperson of the Year at the 2010 Far North District Council Sports Awards.
"Blair's achievement is a credit to the district and particularly to Kerikeri High School's sailing programme through which he has advanced to show his skills on the international sailing stage," Mr Brown said.
The Far North's second Olympic sailing contender Andrew Murdoch finished a creditable fifth in the laser class.
Mayor Brown has also commended the achievements of the Northland unicyclists in the world championships which finished in Italy recently.
Christian Huriwai (20) and Samuel Tzikoucos (13), both of Kaikohe and Samantha (Sam) La Hood (16) of Dargaville each had podium finishes.
In the Street Unicycling division Sam came first in the women’s division, Samuel came third in the junior men’s division and Christian won the men’s division for the second time in consecutive World Championships.
"It seems the Far North is on a winning streak on the international stage at the moment. In addition to these Olympic and world championship successes, I understand two hip hop teams with strong Far North connections, Crew Royal Family and Junior Crew Bubblegum, have recently taken gold in a world hip hop series in Las Vegas.
"This is all great stuff for the Far North," he said.