University of Auckland students and alumni shine at Tokyo Olympics

The Olympics took place in Tokyo, Japan, from 23 July to 8 August 2021. With two University of Auckland students winning gold and one alum winning bronze, there was plenty to celebrate.

It was the second Olympics for our gold-medal winning student athletes, Theresa Fitzpatrick (women’s sevens) and Michael Brake (men’s rowing eight).

Engineering student Michael Brake was part of the crew that won gold on 30 July in spectacular fashion, after qualifying for the final the hard way – through the repêchage. In the final they beat Germany, who had won every World Champs event since 2016.

“I always knew that our support team was gold-medal standard and that the pieces were in place for a good performance, but I was expecting to be battling for a bronze medal. To come away with the gold has been seriously surreal.” – Michael Brake

First year student Kanah Andrews-Nahu (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou) is just 20 years old and represented New Zealand in weightlifting (87kg) at her first Olympics.

“I didn’t perform as well as what I wanted to, but this made me realise how much more I want to put into my sport,” says Kanah. “It has been a really eye-opening experience.”

She says being in Tokyo during a pandemic was also eye-opening. “Everywhere you went, everybody was wearing masks. Being in such a vulnerable environment made me realise how good we have it in New Zealand.”

Dylan Schmidt (BCom 2020) was one of six University of Auckland alumni to perform in Tokyo. The trampolinist was at his second Olympics and was stoked to come away with the bronze.

“I was 19 in Rio and I’m now 24 so hard work and good preparation along with more experience was the biggest difference leading to me getting on the podium.” – Dylan Schmidt

The University of Auckland had five other alumni competing in Tokyo:

Teneale Hatton (Bachelor of Commercial Law) – Kayaking

Stacey Michelsen (LLB) – Hockey Black, Sticks captain and most-capped player

Tarryn Davey (BPharm) – Hockey

Andrea Anacan (Bachelor of Business) – Karate

Ryan Fox (BA, psychology) – Golf

Congratulations again to all our student Olympians! Read more about our student Olympians and their experience here. 

UoA student sets a new Oceania record at the Paralympics!

First time Paralympian and Bachelor of Science student Anna Steven competed in the T64 200m and T64 100m sprints in Tokyo.

Anna set off with a bang, with her first race securing her a spot in the T64 200m final. She not only secured herself a spot in the final but also set a new PB and Oceania record! After running the race of her life in the heat, Anna placed 8th in the final – an excellent result for the first time Paralympian.

Unfortunately, Anna’s 100m heat didn’t go as planned, with an automatic disqualification due to a false start.

Read more about Anna’s experience here.