Thursday, 11 June 2020:
New Zealand rowing great Mahe Drysdale has confirmed he will pursue a third straight gold medal at next year's Games in Tokyo at the age of 42.
Melbourne-born Drysdale will become the oldest single scull champion in Olympic history if he can add to his successive triumphs at London and Rio.
The five-time world champion cast doubt over his title defence in April after the Tokyo Olympiad was pushed back by a year, stating he was unsure if he would have the mental strength to continue.
He said he had rediscovered his drive as the country emerged from a lockdown period to combat COVID-19.
"I guess you don't know what you've got until you lose it," Drysdale said.
"It was pretty mentally tough through lockdown but as soon as I got back on the water my mental health went from pretty low to straight back up.
"I actually feel like I'm rowing almost as well as I ever have and in some ways there's a bit of pressure off having that time to reflect."
The oldest Olympic singles champion was 40-year-old Briton Harry Blackstaffe at the 1908 London Games.
In the modern era, compatriot Steve Redgrave was 38 when he bagged his fifth straight rowing gold at the 2000 Games in Sydney.
Drysdale is one of four two-time Olympic singles champions, including Australia's Bobby Pearce (1928-32) and will seek to join three-time winners Vyacheslav Ivanov (Soviet Union, 1956-64) and Pertti Karppinen (Finland, 1976-84).
Drysdale's winning margin over Croat silver medallist Damir Martin in the 2016 final at Rio was 3cm, the closest in Olympic history.
