Mathew Belcher OAM

Queenslander Mat Belcher is recognised as one of the world’s greatest dinghy sailors and our first Olympic skipper to win two gold medals with two different crews, along with multiple world championships crowns.

Mat Belcher is regarded as not just a great Australian sailor, but an Australian sporting great.

A multiple Olympian, world champion and former World Sailor of the Year, he is one of sailing’s most recognised and best-regarded champions.

He stands alone as the first Australian skipper to win two Olympic gold medals and the first Australian Olympic sailor in any class to win three Olympic medals at three consecutive Olympics.

Belcher grew up sailing Sabots and raced for the first time at age seven. In his teens, he won a world 420 class crown, before moving into the 470 class that he has since dominated.

He won his first Olympic gold with Malcolm Page at the London Olympics in 2012 and his second with Will Ryan at the delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, both under long-time coach Victor Kovalenko.

In between, Belcher also won an Olympic silver medal in Rio in 2016, again with Ryan.

Belcher won six straight world crowns with Page and Ryan between 2010 and 2015, then a further two with Ryan in 2017 and 2019.

Coach Kovalenko describes Belcher as ‘calm, balanced and very good at making decisions under pressure. He could be the Prime Minister’.

Now a father of three, Belcher has always generously given his time to support the sailing community and promote the sport. He was honoured as Australia’s great Olympic sailor when asked to carry the flag at the closing ceremony at the Tokyo Olympics.