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Jenny Armstrong

Ep 12 - Jenny Armstrong

Issue date

Jenny Armstrong competed at two Olympic Games, one for New Zealand and another for Australia. She went to the 1992 Barcelona Olympics under the New Zealand flag and finished fourth in the Europe dinghy. Eight years later she was sailing at 'home' in Sydney for Australia and winning gold in the women’s 470 with Belinda Stowell. The pair are now members of Australia Sailing’s Hall of Fame. Armstrong’s decision to switch allegiance is one that still irks her but she says it’s one she would still make today if facing the same circumstances. 

She goes into the background behind that decision, being written off by legendary coach Victor Kovalenko, winning Australia’s first gold medal in sailing in 28 years, trying to learn the Australian national anthem right up until the moment she stepped onto the dais and her recent return home to Dunedin and move into the world of coaching.