Mr Bird an Olympic medal winner

Muritai school is lucky enough to have our own Olympic athlete. Mr Bird won a bronze medal in the 1988 Seoul Olympics in rowing and we got the chance to find out from him what it was like being an athlete at the games. 

Mr Bird told us how he had to work very hard with the rowing team to train before they went to the Olympics. Just like we work very hard in room 6 to be the best we can be. On the day of the race he was very nervous and even felt a little bit sick but was very excited to be representing New Zealand. They lined their boats up against 5 other teams, Great Britain, Romania, U.S.A, West Germany and East Germany. It was a long course, 2000 metres, but it was quickly over in just 6 minutes and 13 seconds. 

We were allowed to hold the bronze medal which was very special and some of us even put it around our necks to see just how it would feel to wear an Olympic medal. 

Well done Mr Bird and thank you for sharing your special memories with us.