Thieves who broke into Kiwi Olympian Les O'Connell's Christchurch home over the weekend managed to find an item he had gone to lengths to hide — his 1984 Olympic gold medal.
The two-time world rowing champion, who won his gold medal in Los Angeles in the men's coxless four, had been out of town for a family wedding when the burglary happened.
He told 1News he learned of the break-in this morning when his son arrived to find the garage door open, the front door ajar and the household ransacked.
"He called me to say the work truck had gone from out front, the garage door was open, and the front door was open. That was the first sign we knew about it."
Among the items taken was his Olympic gold medal, which had been deliberately tucked away so it wouldn't be stolen.
"Obviously they knew where to look for different items," O’Connell said.
"We thought everything was well hidden. Apparently not. I didn’t want to hang my Olympic one on the wall, because people like to touch it and turn it over. It’s got things on each side, so if you hang it up on the wall, you lose access to it."
O'Connell said he had become more emotional throughout the day as the reality of the loss sank in.
"Everything else can be replaced," he said.
"But this one can’t. As the day’s gone on, it’s getting more emotional. You realise how important it is. I don't know how many gold medals there are, more than what used to be, but it's still pretty an exclusive club."
O'Connell was worried the thieves would simply discard or damage the medal once they realised they would be difficult to offload.
"Even if they're connected, [it's] whether anyone will want to touch something that's quite a named thing. The last thing I want them to do is try and melt it down or throw it in the river because it's no value to them, or just deface it on a way that it's not noticeable or recognisable."
Returning the gold medal anonymously would be simple, he said.
"They could stick it in the post to a police station, or leave it somewhere and let someone know."
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