Olympic rower Hannah Osborne has just earned her place among the sporting stars of her home town in rural New Zealand.
Osborne and Brooke Donoghue won silver medals in the womens double sculls competing at their first Olympics in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Both were educated in rural communities, Donoghue at Te Kauwhata College in north Waikato and Osborne at Piopio College in the King Country.
New Zealand rowers Brooke Donoghue and Hannah Osborne collect their silverware at the medal ceremony for the womens double sculls final.
And both schools stopped to watch the women race and enjoy the Olympic success.
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After todays success we will be looking at some type of welcome-home function for Hannah, Piopio College acting principal Marina Rauputu told Stuff.
We will also be putting Hannahs photo up on our school wall along with the likes of Jenny-May Coffin and Rob Waddell, and all the others who have been successful at a national level.
Rauputu said Osborne attended the college in 2007 and 2008. She remembered her as a very elegant and hard-working student.
Brooke Donoghue and Hannah Osborne enjoy the result of their efforts in the women’s double sculls final.
She travelled long distances to come to school every day with her father.
They also travelled further for rowing, to Te Awamutu, which is a fair distance from Piopio, but they were just committed to the sport.
The 135 students were mustered into the schools gym to watch the race on a big screen.
The students got excited when they made the connection that I and another teacher, Mr Draper, had been here when Hannah was at school.
It was just a great opportunity for the kids to see the silver fern and the two girls win silver.
It was a similar situation at Te Kauwhata College where deputy principal Angela Wallace had arranged for the 530 students to watch the Kiwi rowers, too.
Wallace remembered Donoghue as a student who was always driven, in study and in sport.
I never taught Brooke, but our connection was through my daughter who started rowing with her at the same time.
So we spent many years together watching them row on the Waikato River and I got to know the family very well.
Wallace was pulled away at the last minute to watch the race at the Mercer Rowing Club, Donoghues first club.
I can tell you the club is over the moon, it means a lot to them. Eric Murray also rowed out of Mercer and it shows a small club can produce superstars.
Steve McArthur/Photosport
The Kiwi rowers celebrate the success of their debut appearance at the Olympics.
It was a time for celebration and reflection for Osbornes Te Awamutu Rowing Club which had gathered at a restaurant to watch the race.
Osbornes first coach at the club was Clive Steenson who died only a month ago.
One of Steensons daughters, Marsha Tickelpenny, said her dad would have loved to have seen Osborne with a medal at her first Olympics.
I imagine he is aware of whats happened in spirit, it wouldnt have been something he would want to miss out on.
Tickelpenny, also a former rower, said the silver medal would mean a lot for small rowing clubs around the country.
It is an amazing accomplishment not only to get to a final at your first time at the Olympics, but to win a medal, too.
For the club, it means other kids who see Hannah rowing, and come from small communities, might think about becoming involved in rowing, it is an amazing sport to be part of.
The rowers parents, Leo and Leanne Donoghue and Kim and Jeanette Osborne, were interviewed shortly after the race and told Sky Sport how excited they were for their daughters.
They had watched the race at the Fanzone at the Cloud in Auckland.
Osbornes father, Kim, paid tribute to Steenson also, and to the efforts of his daughters school and club leading up to her Olympic debut.
I just feel overwhelmed, we are so proud, you can see there have been tears, tears of joy.
I just hope they really enjoy the spectacle, just the experience over there, its bloody hard when it comes down to a Covid situation.
The whole country and our little community in Waitomo and my wife I think Im just going to start crying.
Leanne Donoghue told Stuff it was hard to watch the race from Auckland when the family wanted to be with Brooke in Tokyo.
Having to train that extra year was hard for Brooke and not being able to go over there with her was difficult too, but weve been with all the other rowing parents and its an awesome group to be with.
Brooke cant really go out and celebrate because of Covid, so I guess shell just be sitting in her room tonight.
Leanne Donoghue said her daughter had talked about competing at the next Olympics in Paris.
She might think shes got a medal now, that will do, or she might want another one.
Shes also getting married in January so things might change, who knows.
