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America's Cup champions shift focus to Olympic glory

April 7, 2021

Members of the America's Cup winning team have swapped the AC75 for dinghies, as they begin preparations for Tokyo.

Members of Team New Zealand's America's Cup winning team are beginning to set their sights on further glory, this time at the Tokyo Olympics.

After a quick breather, Josh Junior and Andy Maloney have been back in their Olympic class Finns over the past few days.

Despite the hard slog together, only one will make the cut for the Games, with the final selection coming after the world championships next month.

"We're great friends and we see that as the best way for us to go to the Olympics and win gold for New Zealand," Maloney said.

"We've come to the decision who doesn't go to the games will be coaching the other person, that relationship will continue all the way to the end," Junior said.

Apart from training in the dinghies, the next challenge will be to roll up the sleeves before leaving the country next week.

"We're lucky enough to have got the vaccination ... I think it's cool the Government has got the Olympic athletes vaccinated so they can get overseas and start competing..we're lucky," Junior said.

But training for the Olympics is not their only focus in the coming months.

The pair will be back in action for the first round of the 2021 Sail GP in Bermuda in just over two weeks.

It is the first time New Zealand has entered a team, and it is headed by none other than Peter Burling and Blair Tuke.

"We're going to get there, be fast tracked into the learning the new control systems, try and get as competitive as we can in the week we've got," Maloney said.

The sailors will be away until October in nearly a dozen different countries hoping to add Olympic glory and and Sail GP success to their achievements this year.

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