The New Zealand Olympic Committee is excited to announce it has recovered the country’s first ever Olympic gold medal, won by swimmer Malcolm Champion at the 1912 Stockholm Olympic Games.
The medal has been gifted in private, to the New Zealand Olympic Committee, by an Australian donor whose family was gifted the medal by Champion’s family in approximately the 1940s. Their wishes were for this medal to be returned to Aotearoa for all New Zealand to enjoy its significance in our rich sporting history.
NZOC CEO Nicki Nicol says the medal is an extremely special part of New Zealand’s sporting history and will be a taonga for the New Zealand Team.
“We’re extremely pleased to have recovered such a significant and special treasure from New Zealand’s sporting past,” said Nicol.
“We’re extremely thankful to both the donor, and members of Malcolm Champion’s wider whanau, who we’ve met with, and who are thrilled it has been recovered and will be shared with all of New Zealand."
The medal will travel to future Olympic Games with the New Zealand Team, including the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympic Games. It was be displayed in the New Zealand section of the Olympic Village alongside other precious New Zealand Team taonga, including the team kakahu (cloaks) and mauri stone. These treasures are part of the legacy elements that support and shape the important culture of Manaaki that serves to connect all our athletes in the New Zealand Team.
The New Zealand Olympic Committee also intends to put the medal on display, so the New Zealand public can also enjoy the piece of sporting history and have made enquiries of the new Sports Hall of Fame, as it is the intent this treasure is shared as an inspiration for all New Zealanders.
The medal is 33mm in diameter, made of gold and gilt silver and was presented to Champion by King Gustaf V of Sweden. On the front, two female figures place a laurel crown on the head of a victorious athlete. On the back, a herald proclaiming the opening of the 1912 Stockholm Olympic Games stands alongside a statue of the host country’s physical education pioneer Per Henrik Ling.
“It’s a beautiful medal and we look forward to sharing it with our New Zealand Team and the wider New Zealand public,” said Nicol.
Champion won the medal aged 28, as part of the Australasian 4 x 200m freestyle relay team at Stockholm 1912. It was the last Olympic Games at which Australia and New Zealand competed as a combined team.
In the relay, Champion teamed with Australian’s Harold Hardwick, Cecil Healy and Les Boardman. The quartet lined up in the final against the United States, Britain, Germany and Hungary.
Healy led off with a leg of 2min 31.4s, and touched level with the American, McGillivray. Champion swam right up to his best to clock 2min 33.5s and send Boardman away with a 10-metre advantage. Boardman swam 2min 35s and Hardwick was then left with the task of holding off the great Hawaiian swimmer Duke Kahanamoku, who had earlier won the 100m.
Kahanamoku drew level with Hardwick at the halfway mark, but the Australian's stamina held and he pulled away. The Australasian team won by eight seconds in 10min 11.6s, which was listed as a world record.
The medal was yesterday on display for New Zealand’s swimming athletes as they prepared to depart for their pre-Games training camps.
“It’s amazing and definitely inspiring to see such a cool part of New Zealand’s sporting history,” said Olympic debutant Hazel Ouwehand.
“It’s a great reminder of how enduring the Olympics are and the rich legacy that we all are a part of.”
The NZOC again extends its thanks to the donor of the medal and the relatives of Malcolm Champion.