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(Top) 1 Early life 2 Rowing career 3 Professional career 4 References

Les O'Connell

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Les O'Connell

Personal information

Birth name

Leslie James O'Connell^[1]

Born

23 May 1958 (age 66)
Timaru, New Zealand

Height

193 cm (6 ft 4 in)^[1]

Weight

89 kg (196 lb)^[1]

Sport

Rowing

Club

Avon Rowing Club

Medal record

Representing New Zealand

Men's rowing
Olympic Games
	1984 Los Angeles	Coxless four
World Rowing Championships
	1982 Rotsee	Eight
	1983 Duisburg	Coxed four

Leslie James O'Connell (born 23 May 1958) is a New Zealand former representative rower. He was a two-time world champion and an Olympic champion who won his Olympic gold medal at the 1984 Summer OlympicsinLos Angeles in the men's coxless four.

Early life[edit]

O'Connell was born in 1958 in Timaru, New Zealand.^[1] He grew up in the town and started a carpentry apprenticeship in 1974.^[2]^[3] Since 1990, he has lived in Christchurch.^[2]

Rowing career[edit]

O'Connell learned to row on Saltwater Creek in Timaru, and in Timaru Harbour.^[4] In 1978, he was New Zealand champion with Chris Booker in the double sculls for the Timaru Rowing Club.^[3] He moved to Christchurch in 1990 so that he could train with the Avon Rowing Club, at the time one of the three main rowing clubs in the country.^[2]

At the 1982 World Rowing ChampionshipsatRotsee, Switzerland, he won a gold medal with the New Zealand eight seated in the bow.^[5] At the end of that year, the 1982 rowing eight crew was named sportsman of the year.^[6] O'Connell then changed to a coxed four and at the 1983 World Rowing ChampionshipsinDuisburg, Germany, he won gold with Conrad Robertson, Greg Johnston, Keith Trask, and Brett Hollisterascox.^[7] He qualified for the 1984 Summer OlympicsinLos Angeles and was put in a coxless four (the coxed four is not included as an Olympic event), and teamed with Shane O'Brien, Conrad Robertson, and Keith Trask. Helped by the absence of the Eastern Bloc countries including the favourites from the Soviet Union and East Germany, the New Zealand coxless four won an unexpected gold medal.^[8] At the 1985 World Rowing ChampionshipsatHazewinkel in Belgium, he came fourth with the coxless four.^[9]

O'Connell won further national championships in 1984 (coxless pair) and 1986 (coxless four).^[10]

The 1982 men's eight team was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.^[11] In 2013, The Timaru Herald had a campaign to have missing sports personalities added to Timaru's Hall of Fame, and O'Connell received the most votes from readers of the newspaper.^[3]^[4] As of October 2016, O'Connell has not been added to their Hall of Fame.^[12]

Professional career[edit]

O'Connell registered a construction company in November 1990^[13] and started operating in 1992.^[2]

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Les O'Connell". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2016.

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Company Profile". LOC Construction. Retrieved 29 October 2016.

^ ^a ^b ^c Piddington, Stu (26 March 2013). "Rower O'Connell tops poll". The Timaru Herald. Retrieved 29 October 2016.

^ ^a ^b Piddington, Stu (22 March 2013). "Some glaring omissions in district Hall of Fame". The Timaru Herald. Retrieved 29 October 2016.

^ "(M8+) Men's Eight - Final". International Rowing Federation. Archived from the original on 8 October 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.

^ "1980's [sic]". Halberg Awards. Retrieved 5 October 2015.^{[permanent dead link]}

^ "(M4+) Men's Coxed Four - Final". International Rowing Federation. Retrieved 29 October 2016.

^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Rowing at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games: Men's Coxless Fours". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2016.

^ "(M4+) Men's Four - Final". International Rowing Federation. Retrieved 29 October 2016.

^ "Les O'Connell". New Zealand Olympic Committee. Retrieved 28 October 2016.

^ "Eight, 1982". New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 13 January 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.

^ "Hall of Fame". Timaru District Council. Retrieved 28 October 2016.

^ "LES O'CONNELL BUILDERS LIMITED". Coys. Retrieved 28 October 2016.

Awards
Preceded by Allison Roe	New Zealand Sportsman of the Year 1982 With: Tony Brook, George Keys, Dave Rodger, Mike Stanley, Andrew Stevenson, Chris White, Roger White-Parsons, Andy Hay	Succeeded by Chris Lewis

Olympic champions – Men's coxless four

1904: Stockhoff, Erker, Dietz, Nasse (USA)

1908:

Cudmore, Gillan, Mackinnon, Somers-Smith (GBR)

1924:

Eley, MacNabb, Morrison, Sanders (GBR)

1928:

Lander, Warriner, Beesly, Bevan (GBR)

1932:

Badcock, Edwards, Beresford, George (GBR)

1936:

Eckstein, Rom, Karl, Menne (GER)

1948:

Moioli, Morille, Invernizzi, Faggi (ITA)

1952:

Bonačić, Valenta, Trojanović, Šegvić (YUG)

1956:

MacKinnon, Loomer, D'Hondt, Arnold (CAN)

1960:

Ayrault, Nash, Sayre, Wailes (USA)

1964:

Hansen, Hasløv, Petersen, Helmudt (DEN)

1968:

Forberger, Rühle, Grahn, Schubert (GDR)

1972:

Forberger, Rühle, Grahn, Schubert (GDR)

1976:

Brietzke, Decker, Semmler, Mager (GDR)

1980:

Thiele, Decker, Semmler, Brietzke (GDR)

1984:

O'Connell, O'Brien, Robertson, Trask (NZL)

1988:

Schröder, Brudel, Förster, Greiner (GDR)

1992:

Cooper, Green, McKay, Tomkins (AUS)

1996:

Green, Ginn, Tomkins, McKay (AUS)

2000:

Cracknell, Redgrave, Foster, Pinsent (GBR)

2004:

Williams, Cracknell, Coode, Pinsent (GBR)

2008:

James, Williams, Reed, Hodge (GBR)

2012:

Gregory, James, Reed, Hodge (GBR)

2016:

Gregory, Sbihi, Nash, Louloudis (GBR)

2020:

Purnell, Turrin, Hargreaves, Hill (AUS)

World champions – Men's coxed four

1962: (Bernd-Jürgen Marschner, Peter Neusel, Bernhard Britting, Manfred Ross, cox Jürgen Oelke)

1966:

(Hanno Melzer, Horst Bagdonat, Helmut Hänsel, Karl-Heinz Grzeschuchna, cox Klaus-Dieter Ludwig)

1970:

(Peter Berger, Hans-Johann Färber, Gerhard Auer, Alois Bierl, cox Stefan Voncken)

1974:

(Andreas Schulz, Rüdiger Kunze, Ullrich Dießner, Walter Dießner, cox Wolfgang Groß)

1975:

(Vladimir Eshinov, Nikolay Ivanov, Aleksandr Sema, Aleksandr Klepikov, cox Aleksandr Lukyanov)

1977:

(Dieter Wendisch, Walter Dießner, Gottfried Döhn, Ullrich Dießner, cox Andreas Gregor)

1978:

(Ullrich Dießner, Gottfried Döhn, Walter Dießner, Dieter Wendisch, cox Andreas Gregor)

1979:

(Bernd Schlufter, Walter Dießner, Jens Doberschütz, Ullrich Dießner, cox Werner Lutz)

1981:

(Dietmar Schiller, Jörg Friedrich, Bernd Niesecke, Harald Jährling, cox Klaus-Dieter Ludwig)

1982:

(Thomas Greiner, Hans Sennewald, Ulrich Kons, Ullrich Dießner, cox Andreas Gregor)

1983:

(Conrad Robertson, Greg Johnston, Keith Trask, Les O'Connell, cox Brett Hollister)

1985:

(Sigitas Kučinskas, Ivan Visotchkin, Vladimir Romanishin, Igor Zotov, cox Mikhail Sassov)

1986:

(Frank Klawonn, Bernd Eichwurzel, Bernd Niesecke, Karsten Schmeling, cox Hendrik Reiher)

1987:

(Frank Klawonn, Bernd Eichwurzel, Bernd Niesecke, Karsten Schmeling, cox Hendrik Reiher)

1989:

(Vasile Năstase, Dimitrie Popescu, Valentin Robu, Vasile Tomoiagă, cox Marin Gheorghe)

1990:

(Bernd Eichwurzel, Mario Gruessel, Detlef Kirchhoff, Stefan Schulz, cox Hendrik Reiher)

1991:

(Armin Eichholz, Bahne Rabe, Matthias Ungemach, Armin Weyrauch, cox Joerg Dedering)

1993:

(Dorin Alupei, Iulică Ruican, Nicolae Țaga, Viorel Talapan, cox Marin Gheorghe)

1994:

(Valentin Robu, Iulică Ruican, Viorel Talapan, Florian Tudor, cox Marin Gheorghe)

1995:

(Chris Ahrens, Porter Collins, Ben Holbrook, Scott Munn, cox Peter Cipollone)

1996:

(Dorin Alupei, Gabriel Marin, Iulică Ruican, Viorel Talapan, cox Alexei Raducanu)

1997:

(Antoine Béghin, Vincent Maliszewski, Bernard Roche, Laurent Béghin, cox Christophe Lattaignant)

1998:

(Drew Ginn, Nick Green, Mike McKay, James Tomkins, cox Brett Hayman)

1999:

(Tom Murray, Daniel Protz, Garrett Klugh, Jake Wetzel, cox Sean Mulligan)

2000:

(Rick Dunn, Toby Garbett, Graham Smith, Steve Williams, cox Alistair Potts)

2001:

(Gilles Bosquet, Vincent Gazan, Vincent Millot, Sidney Chouraqui, cox Christophe Lattaignant)

2002:

(Tom Stallard, Steve Trapmore, Luka Grubor, Kieran West, cox Christian Cormack)

2003:

(Brian McDonough, Matt Deakin, Jason Flickinger, Lucas McGee, cox Marcus McElhenney)

2004:

(Lorenzo Carboncini, Stefano Introzzi, Edoardo Verzotti, Valerio Massimo, cox Alessandro Speranza)

2005:

(Nicolas Podpovitny, Vincent Durupt, Alex Johnatan Mathis, Lionel Jacquiot, cox Nicolas Majerus)

2006:

(Jan-Martin Bröer, Matthias Flach, Philipp Naruhn, Florian Eichner, cox Martin Sauer)

2007:

(Matt Deakin, Dan Beery, Samuel Burns, Christopher Liwski, cox Edmund del Guercio)

World champions – Men's eight

1962: (Meyer, Plagemann, Aeffke, Behrens, Wallbrecht, von Groddeck, Ingo Kliefoth, Bernd Kruse, cox Ahrens)

1966:

(Meyer, Schreyer, Schwan, Luhn, Hertel, Henning, Ulbricht, Kuhn, cox Niehusen)

1970:

(Borchmann, Jobst, Zander, Gust, Martens, Ahrendt, Foppke, Puls, cox Zahn)

1974:

(Shealy, Stevenson, Cashin, Norelius, Everett, Vespoli, Mickelson, Brown, cox Weinberg)

1975:

(Arndt, Döhn, Wendisch, Ulrich, Klatt, Kostulski, Karnatz, Prudöhl, cox Ludwig)

1977:

(Sredzki, Lindner, Gottschalt, Kons, Lück, Frieberg, Karnatz, Gunkel, cox Jahncke)

1978:

(Schumann, Karnatz, Sredzki, Ebert, Ulrich, Jährling, Dühring, Höing, cox Kaiser)

1979:

(Schiller, Friedrich, Wenzel, Ulrich, Höing, Karnatz, Krauß, Rodewald, cox Ludwig)

1981:

(Gudauskas, Solomakhin, Krilov, Diduk, Narushaitis, Narmontas, Pinskus, Maystrenka, cox Nizhegorodov)

1982:

(O'Connell, Stanley, Stevenson, Keys, White-Parsons, White, Brook, Rodger, cox Hay)

1983:

(Stanley, Stevenson, Rodger, White-Parsons, White, Mabbott, Keys, Atherfold, cox Hay)

1985:

(Komarov, Diduk, Pinskus, But, Omelyanovich, Hurkovskiy, Voloshin, Vasilyev, cox Dmytrenko)

1986:

(Galloway, Batten, Cooper, McKay, Doyle, Tomkins, Popa, Evans, cox Caterson)

1987:

(Teti, Smith, Patton, Still, Nordell, McLaughlin, Burden, Pescatore, cox Bauer)

1989:

(Puttlitz, Keßlau, Steffes-Mies, Balster, Dietrich, Mauerwerk, Wessling, Baar, cox Klein)

1990:

(Baar, Balster, Dietrich, Korte, Richter, Steffes-Mies, Ungemach, Weyrauch, cox Klein)

1991:

(Steffes-Mies, Balster, Fischer, Streppelhoff, Hecht, Klapheck, Wessling, Baar, cox Klein)

1993:

(Baar, Hoeltzenbein, Lütkefels, Richter, Scholz, Steffes-Mies, Streppelhoff, von Ettingshausen, cox Thiede)

1994:

(Brown, Hall, Honebein, Kaehler, Klepacki, Koven, McKibbon, Smith, cox Segaloff)

1995:

(Baar, Forster, Kirchhoff, Landvoigt, Lerche, Richter, Sator, Weber, cox Thiede)

1997:

(Ahrens, Bea, Henry, Kaehler, Miller, Richter, Wherley, Cummins, cox Cipollone)

1998:

(Ahrens, Collins, Kaehler, Klepacki, Miller, Volpenhein, Welsh, Wherley, cox Cipollone)

1999:

(Volpenhein, Kaehler, Collins, Welsh, Wherley, Klepacki, Miller, Ahrens, cox Cipollone)

2001:

(Măstăcan, Corbeanu, Nemțoc, Florariu, Cornea, Bănică, Pîrvan, Măstăcan, cox Gheorghe)

2002:

(Swick, Light, Rutledge, Hamilton, Stankevicius, Hoskins, Kreek, Powell, cox Price)

2003:

(Stankevicius, Light, Rutledge, Hamilton, Calder, Hoskins, Kreek, Powell, cox Price)

2005:

(Daniels, Deakin, Coppola, Beery, Inman, Volpenhein, Hoopman, McElhenney, cox Blomquist)

2006:

(Dießner, Schulte, Koltzk, Stüer, Tebrügge, Siemes, Engelmann, Heidicker, cox Thiede)

2007:

(Light, Rutledge, Byrnes, Wetzel, Howard, Seiterle, Kreek, Hamilton, cox Price)

2009:

(Käufer, Hauffe, Mennigen, Wilke, Schmidt, Adamski, Seifert, Schmidt, cox Sauer)

2010:

(Hauffe, Reinelt, Wilke, Mennigen, Schmidt, Müller, Seifert, Schmidt, cox Sauer)

2011:

(Hauffe, Kuffner, Johannesen, Reinelt, Schmidt, Müller, Mennigen, Wilke, cox Sauer)

2013:

(Ritchie, Ransley, Gregory, Reed, Sbihi, Triggs Hodge, Nash, Satch, cox Hill)

2014:

(Reilly-O'Donnell, Tarrant, Satch, Gotrel, Reed, Bennett, Ransley, Louloudis, cox Hill)

2015:

(Gotrel, Louloudis, Reed, Bennett, Sbihi, Gregory, Nash, Satch, cox Hill)

2017:

(Weißenfeld, Wimberger, Planer, Johannesen, Schneider, Jakschik, Schmidt, Ocik, cox Sauer)

2018:

(Weißenfeld, Wimberger, Planer, Johannesen, Schneider, Jakschik, Schmidt, Ocik, cox Sauer)

2019:

(Weißenfeld, Follert, Reinhardt, Johannesen, Schneider, Jakschik, Schmidt, Ocik, cox Sauer)

2022:

(Gibbs, Bolding, Bewicke-Copley, Carnegie, Elwes, Digby, Rudkin, Ford, cox Brightmore)

2023:

(Dawson, Bolding, Gibbs, Carnegie, Elwes, Digby, Rudkin, Ford, cox Brightmore)

v t e 1984 New Zealand Olympic team
Archery	Neroli Fairhall Dale Lightfoot Ann Shurrock
Athletics	Anne Audain Rod Dixon Derek Froude Lyn Grime Lorraine Moller Mary O'Connor Peter O'Donoghue Mike O'Rourke Peter Pearless Peter Renner Dianne Rodger Tony Rogers John Walker Steve Walsh
Boxing	Kevin Barry Michael Kenny
Canoeing	Grant Bramwell Ian Ferguson Robert Jenkinson Paul MacDonald Edwin Richards Alan Thompson
Cycling	Craig Adair Stephen Cox Anthony Cuff Brian Fowler Graeme Miller Murray Steele Roger Sumich
Diving	Ann Sissons Mark Graham Gary Lamb
Equestrian	Andrew Bennie John Cottle Mary Hamilton Andrew Nicholson Mark Todd
Fencing	Martin Brill David Cocker
Field hockey	Jeff Archibald Christine Arthur Cathy Baker Husmukh Bhikha Robyn Blackman Chris Brown George Carnoutsos Mary Clinton Peter Daji Lesley Elliott Laurie Gallen Jane Goulding Stuart Grimshaw Shirley Haig Harina Kohere Trevor Laurence Sandra Mackie Maurice Marquet Jan Martin Jenny McDonald Sue McLeish Grant McLeod Brent Miskimmin Peter Miskimmin Lesley Murdoch Arthur Parkin Ramesh Patel Graham Sligo Jillian Smith Isobel Thomson Barbara Tilden Robin Wilson
Judo	Shaun O'Leary Graeme Spinks Bill Vincent
Rhythmic gymnastics	Tanya Moss
Rowing	Nigel Atherfold Stephanie Foster Andy Hay Brett Hollister Allan Horan Geoff Horan Greg Johnston George Keys Kevin Lawton Barrie Mabbott Shane O'Brien Les O'Connell Gary Reid Conrad Robertson Dave Rodger Mike Stanley Andrew Stevenson Don Symon Ross Tong Keith Trask Chris White Roger White-Parsons
Sailing	Luke Carter Russell Coutts Simon Daubney Tom Dodson Peter Evans Aran Hansen Bruce Kendall David Mackay Sean Reeves Rex Sellers Chris Timms
Shooting	Tony Clarke Stephen Petterson John Woolley
Swimming	Brett Austin Carmel Clark Mike Davidson Anna Doig Gary Hurring Gail Jonson Paul Kingsman Anthony Mosse
Synchronised swimming	Katie Sadleir Lynette Sadleir
Weightlifting	Michael Bernard Kevin Blake Allister Nalder
Wrestling	Zane Coleman Graeme Hawkins Ken Reinsfield
Chef de Mission: Ron Scott

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Les_O%27Connell&oldid=1179926310" Categories: ●1958 births ●Living people ●New Zealand male rowers ●Olympic gold medalists for New Zealand in rowing ●Rowers at the 1984 Summer Olympics ●Sportspeople from Timaru ●World Rowing Championships medalists for New Zealand ●Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics ●Rowers from Christchurch Hidden categories: ●All articles with dead external links ●Articles with dead external links from December 2017 ●Articles with permanently dead external links ●Articles with short description ●Short description matches Wikidata ●Use dmy dates from October 2016 ●Use New Zealand English from October 2016 ●All Wikipedia articles written in New Zealand English ●This page was last edited on 13 October 2023, at 10:12 (UTC). ●Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. ●Privacy policy ●About Wikipedia ●Disclaimers ●Contact Wikipedia ●Code of Conduct ●Developers ●Statistics ●Cookie statement ●Mobile view