Introduction
Mathew "Mat" Belcher (born 20 September 1982) is an Australian Olympic Gold Medalist in the 470 dinghy and currently competes with crew Will Ryan. In 2011, following World Championship and World Cup success he and Malcolm Page were shortlisted by the International Sailing Federation for the ISAF World Sailor of the Year Awards. He has since become an enthusiast in Major League Baseball. He has been featured on the 'The Board Minutes' Podcast as an 'MLB Insider'
Sailing career
Having won the 420 World Championship in 2000, the feeder class to the 470, while still conducting his school at The Southport School on the Gold Coast, Belcher was given the distinction of carrying the Olympic flag during the closing ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympics. At that point, he decided to become an Olympian. Coach Victor Kovalenko invited him onto the Australian 470 sailing squad where he became the tuning partner for Nathan Wilmot and Page. As a helmsman, Belcher rose to the #1 ISAF ranking in 2007 but did not qualify for the 2008 Olympics as Wilmot and Page won the 470 World Championship and then went on to represent Australia at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
2012 & 2016 Olympic Games
Together with 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist Malcolm Page, Belcher won the gold medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London in the 470 class.
Together with Will Ryan, Belcher was runner up in the 2016 Rio Olympics, winning the silver medal in the 470 class.