The New Zealand rower Les O'Connell has received an official replacement for the Olympic gold medal stolen from his Christchurch home in February, the NZ Herald reports.
O'Connell, 67, won gold in the men's coxless four at the 1984 Los Angeles Games. The medal was taken while he and his wife were away in Napier for a wedding. The New Zealand Olympic Committee worked with the International Olympic Committee to secure the replacement.
O'Connell said he often took the medal to schools so children could see what they might achieve, and he appealed for anyone with information about the original to return it, saying it had no value to anyone else. The committee's chief executive, Nicki Nicol, thanked the IOC. Another member of the same crew, Shane O'Brien, had his gold medal stolen in a burglary in 2006.
Source: NZ Herald
