Olympic silver medallists looking to recharge

10:36 am on 4 August 2021

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke are "pretty knackered" and are looking forward to some time away from sailing before considering a fourth Olympic campaign.

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke  (NZL) 49er men's silver medalists with coach Hamish Willcox.
Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Enoshima, Kanagawa, Japan on Tuesday 3rd August 2021.

Photo: Kenji Demura/Photosport Ltd 2021

The Rio gold medallists have had to settle for silver in the 49er class at the Tokyo Olympics after a busy five years which has also seen them win and defend the America's Cup and compete in the round the world yacht race.

They also run the New Zealand SailGP team so their year isn't done yet.

"We won't get to bring these silver medals back to Aotearoa until the middle of October so it's a bit of a wait for our friends and family," Tuke told RNZ.

"We're straight up to Europe now for the next three SailGP events which we're looking forward to. Obviously being the CEOs of the New Zealand SailGP team we've got a bit of responsibility there.

"It's been a bit of an up and down start to the season for us so we really want to get back into that and get stuck in and we're obviously going to look forward to racing that back in New Zealand in January."

Tuke says they are also eyeing some time away from the sport.

Medal cermony: Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (NZL) 49er mens silver medalists.
Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Enoshima, Kanagawa, Japan on Tuesday 3rd August 2021.

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke on the Olympic podium in Enoshima. Photo: Kenji Demura/Photosport Ltd 2021

"I guess we're also looking forward to the time off we have in between the events. It's going to be the first time we've got just one thing on our plates for the last few years.

"We've got some other friends up in Europe so we're going to make sure we recharge.

"We've sort of been charging for a few years now so we'll make sure the next couple of months up in Europe in between events and then back in New Zealand over summer we get to hang out with friends and family and look back on the last few years.

"It's been a busy time for us. We're both pretty knackered so we're going to make sure we enjoy this and recharge and we'll figure out the road from there."

That includes whether they commit to Paris 2023 and a fourth Olympic campaign in the 49er.

"For us it's just been head down trying to make sure we're prepared as we could be coming into this week," Burling said.

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke after winning silver in the men's 49er sailing event.

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke after winning silver in the men's 49er sailing event. Photo: Photosport

"Like Blair said looking forward to a little bit of time off.

"Definitely going to enjoy the Olympic silver and also we haven't really managed to put our feet up at all after the America's Cup win as well. Definitely going to be celebrating those two and just trying to take it a little bit easier."

It is Burling and Tuke's second Olympic silver in the 49er class, having also stood on the second step of the podium at London 2012.

And they plan to celebrate.

"At the Olympics in London we said when we saw people not enjoying the silver medal let's not be those people," Tuke said.

"There's certainly been a heck of a lot of hard work by us and by all the people around us to get to this point and we're going to make sure we enjoy it for ourselves and for all of those people."

"I think we've got to be pretty proud of what we've done here. To do it with such an amazing group of friends, our teammates and the rest of the New Zealand sailing team is something that we're incredibly proud of as well," Burling said.