Burling and Tuke take silver in 49er

5:58 pm on 3 August 2021

New Zealand sailors Blair Tuke and Peter Burling take home the silver medal in the 49er at the Tokyo Olympics.

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke Photo: World Sailing

Burling and Tuke finished the medal race in third - behind gold medal winners Great Britain and bronze medalists Germany.

The Kiwis needed to finish within one placing of Great Britain to win back-to-back gold medals.

Burling and Tuke fought back from a rough start to their regatta to go into today's double points medal race with a four point lead.

Tuke told Sky Sport taking the silver medal came with mixed emotions.

"To have it be so close like that was pretty tough but at the same time for us we've always said to win an Olympic medal is very special and to have won another one for Aotearoa is something that we'll definitely cherish and are very proud."

Burling said it would take a few days to come to terms with how their Olympic campaign ended.

"Our campaign was very much about trying to come back here and win a gold medal and to come so close makes it all the more mixed emotions," Burling told Sky Sport.

David Nyika fights Russian Muslim Gadzhimagomedov.

David Nyika fights Russian Muslim Gadzhimagomedov. Photo: Photosport

Meanwhile David Nyika has won bronze in the heavyweight boxing.

Nyika has lost his semi-final bout to Russian Muslim Gadzhimagomedov meaning he wins a bronze.

The Russian went into the fight as favourite and Nyika found the going difficult with all the judges scoring the fight in the Russian's favour.

Nyika is the fourth New Zealand boxer to win an Olympic medal but the first since David Tua's bronze in Barcelona in 1992.

-RNZ