Blair Tuke ready to put in the hard yards for Olympic gold medal defence

Blair Tuke is realistic when asked how difficult it’ll be to win gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

“We know more than anyone how much hard work goes into an Olympic campaign and what it entails to ensure you’re performing at your best so we’d be the first to admit it’s not going to be be a walk in the park.”

The 29 year old has just returned home following a hectic 18 months which included the America’s Cup win in Bermuda, followed by the gruelling Volvo Ocean Race.

Alongside teammate Peter Burling, Tuke has announced he’ll be returning to the 49er class in a bid to win back-to-back Olympic gold.

“We’ve got a massive passion for racing at the Olympic games, it’s been a huge part of our lives,” said Tuke.

The pair dominated the 49er class at Rio 2016, wrapping up the gold medal with a day of racing to spare.

 “We always had the desire to go to the Olympic Games again so we just needed to make sure we’d be able to do it to our standard before committing to it.”

“Once again we’ll be combining the Olympic campaign with sailing for Team New Zealand so it’s going to be a busy juggling act but those forms of sailing complement each other.”

For now Burling and Tuke are enjoying being back on dry land but it’s not for long, the pair planning to jump back in the 49er competitively later this year.

“It’s a different campaign this time with compressed lead in to Tokyo so it’ll offer some different challenges but those challenges will push us to be the best we can be.”