Michael Brake is a part of the Men's Eight who claimed an Olympic Gold medal at the 2020 Olympic Games held in Tokyo.
Alongside his team, they made history breaking the 49 year drought for NZ Men's rowing in the eights. Through hard work, the team achieved their goal by going through the "Regatta of Death" making them the 6th rank crew leading into the Olympics.
Michael has represented New Zealand on the international stage multiple times.
With a strong start to his career, he won gold at the World Rowing Junior Championships in 2012, and silver in 2014 at the World Rowing U23 Championships. Qualifying for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, Michael competed in the Men's Eights where they went on to finish 6th. After Rio, Michael underwent surgery on his wrist due to an injury but came back with a vengeance, pushing his way back to competing strongly domestically where he was named alongside Tom Murray in the men's pair. Unfortunately Michael was struck again by another injury to his wrist and a long road to recovery at the beginning of the international season.
Michael and Tom Murray both returned strongly to win the World Rowing Cup III in 2018 and went on to place 6th at the World Rowing Championships. In 2019 the pair took home a silver and bronze at World Rowing Cups II and III, before securing the silver medal at the World Rowing Championships.
Michael is from the Auckland and is currently completing a Bachelor of Engineering at University of Auckland. He is a keen property investor outside of his sporting career.
As a speaker, Michael speaks alongside his team mate Tom Mackintosh a dynamic pair sharing engaging stories covering the importance of teamwork, defying expectations and executing at a pinnacle event. All during a global crisis! Key topics include: sacrifice, high performance, overcoming adversity, resilience, mindset, communication, conviction and the importance of having absolute faith in your team.
