Richard Burnell

{{Short description|English rower (1917–1995)}} {{EngvarB|date=November 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}} {{Infobox sportsperson | headercolor = brown | name = Richard Burnell | image = Dickie Burnell 1950.jpg | image_size =  | caption = Richard ('Dick') Burnell in 1950 | birth_name = | fullname = Richard Desborough Burnell | nickname = | nationality = English | residence = | birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1917|7|26}} | birth_place = [[Henley-on-Thames]], England | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1995|1|29|1917|7|26}} | death_place =Oxfordshire | height = 6 ft 4 in<ref name=obithenley/> | weight = 14.5 st<ref name=obithenley/> | website =  | country = {{GBR2}} | sport = Rowing | event = | club = [[Kingston Rowing Club]]<br>[[Leander Club]]<ref name=sr/> | team = | former_partner = [[Bert Bushnell]] | coach = | retired = | coaching = | worlds = | regionals = | nationals = | olympics = | pb = | medaltemplates = {{MedalCountry | {{GBR2}}}} {{MedalOlympics}} {{MedalGold| [[1948 Summer Olympics|1948 London]]|[[Rowing at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Men's double sculls|Double sculls]]}} {{MedalCompetition|[[Commonwealth Games|British Empire Games]]}} {{MedalCountry | {{ENG}}}} {{MedalBronze| [[1950 British Empire Games|1950 Auckland]] | Eights}} | show-medals = yes }}

'''Richard Desborough Burnell''' (26 July 1917 – 29 January 1995) was an English [[Rowing (sport)|rower]] who won a gold medal at the 1948 Olympics alongside [[Bert Bushnell]] in the [[sculling|double scull]]s. He and his father [[Charles Burnell|Charles]] are the only father and son in Olympic history to have both won gold medals in rowing.<ref name=sr>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200418015339/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/bu/dickie-burnell-1.html Dickie Burnell]. sports-reference.com</ref>

==Career== Burnell was born in [[Henley-on-Thames]] the son of [[Charles Burnell]] who won a gold medal in the [[eight (rowing)|eights]] at the [[1908 Summer Olympics]]. He was educated at [[Eton College]] and [[Oxford University]].

In May 1939, Burnell was commissioned into the [[London Rifle Brigade]]. He was on the losing Oxford team in [[The Boat Race]] in 1939. He was a rowing correspondent for ''[[The Times]]'' and wrote several books on rowing matters. He competed for [[Kingston Rowing Club]] and in 1946 won the [[Wingfield Sculls]].

===1948 Summer Olympics=== At the 1948 Olympics Burnell won a gold medal with [[Bert Bushnell]] in the [[double scull]]s, Burnell and Bushnell having never previously trained together. [[Jack Beresford]] told Bushnell that he had no chance to win the single sculls, and so created the double sculls team instead.<ref name=mattsmithfilm /> Their differing physiques – Burnell was 6 ft 4 inches and weighed {{frac|14|1|2}} stone, while Bushnell was 5 ft 10 inches and {{frac|10|1|2}} stone – presented some difficulties in the boat, which Bushnell had to re-rig so that they were able to reach together.<ref name=obithenley>{{cite news|title=Olympian who became 'Recirc Bert' of cruiser hire|url=http://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/news.php?id=708583|access-date=23 July 2012|newspaper=Henley Standard|date=25 January 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120224043117/http://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/news.php?id=708583|archive-date=24 February 2012}}</ref>

The pair only had a month to train for the Games,<ref name=obithenley /> with animosity between the two due to the difference in their class backgrounds. Bushnell later said in an interview, "There was class tension there and it came from me being bloody awkward."<ref name=mattsmithfilm /> Bushnell struck up a friendship with American rower [[John B. Kelly Jr.]] and Australian [[Mervyn Wood]].<ref name="Independent">{{cite news |title=Bert Bushnell: Britain's last surviving gold medallist from the 1948 Olympics |first=Janie |last=Hampton |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/bert-bushnell-britains-last-surviving-gold-medallist-from-the-1948-olympics-1899605.html |newspaper=The Independent |date=15 February 2010|access-date=23 July 2012}}</ref> The rowers' diets had been increased from the normal 2,500 calories allowed by rationing to a "miner's diet" of 3,600. However, the other teams were having food flown in specially to increase their calorie intake and allow them to train more.<ref name=mattsmithfilm /> Bushnell would invite Kelly and Wood over for dinner, with his guests bringing the food.<ref name=Independent /> Bushnell and Burnell both attended the opening ceremony of the 1948 Games, something Bushnell described as "dreadful", as they gave the athletes poorly fitting uniforms and made them stand out in the sun en-masse for three hours.<ref name=Independent />

On the [[Henley Royal Regatta]] course, they lost to France in the first round, but then won both the [[repêchage]] followed by the semi-final. On 9 August 1948, in front of a home crowd, Bushnell and Burnell competed in the Olympic final against the double scull teams of Uruguay and Denmark.<ref name=mattsmithfilm /> Bushnell nearly missed the final, held at the [[Leander Club]] in [[Henley-on-Thames]], as stewards would not allow him to enter; he later explained "You see I wasn't a member then – not posh enough".<ref name=Independent /> At around the three-minute mark, the British team decided to push for the win, eventually taking it in six minutes and 51.3 seconds, two lengths ahead of the favoured Danish duo of [[Ebbe Parsner]] and [[Aage Larsen]] (6:55.3) and five ahead of Uruguay (7:12.4).<ref name=Independent /><ref>Wallechinsky, David and Loucky, Jaime (2012) ''The Complete Book of the Olympics: 2012 Edition''. London: Aurum Press. p. 878. {{ISBN|1845136950}}</ref> On the jetty they were awarded their medals while standing in their socks. There were no ribbons for the medals due to cost saving measures, and so they were given them in presentation boxes while [[God Save the King]] was played by a band.<ref name=mattsmithfilm />

===After Olympics=== [[File:Jack Beresford and Dickie Burnell 1950.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Beresford and Burnell (right) at the 1950 British Empire Games]] Burnell won a bronze medal in the eights at the 1950 British Empire Games, and in 1951 he won the [[Double Sculls Challenge Cup]] at [[Henley Royal Regatta]], together with Pat Bradley.<ref name=sr/> He continued to write on international rowing events for the [[Sunday Times]] until 1990.

==Personal life== Burnell and his father [[Charles Burnell]] are the only father and son in Olympic history to have both won gold medals in rowing. In 1940 Burnell married Rosalind, a daughter of English Olympic gold medal-winning rower [[Stanley Garton]]. They had five children: Peter, John, Edward, Alexandra (“Zandra”), and Elizabeth (“Tizzy”).<ref>Buckhorn, Göran R (28 February 2012) [http://hear-the-boat-sing.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/burnell-perry-thames-dinghy-or-with.html "The Burnell-Perry Thames Dinghy; Or With Cerise Coloured Blades In Connecticut"], ''Hear the Boat Sing''.</ref> Burnell's son, Peter, rowed for Oxford in 1962.

==Works== Burnell published several books on rowing, including * ''Swing Together: Thoughts on Rowing'' (1952) * ''The Oxford & Cambridge Boat Race, 1829–1953'' (1954) * ''Sculling: With Notes on Training and Rigging'' (1955) * ''Henley Regatta: A History'' (1957)

==Legacy== During the run up to the [[2012 Summer Olympics]] in London, the BBC produced the film ''[[Bert and Dickie]]'' (also called ''Going For Gold: The '48 Games''), depicting Burnell and Bushnell's achievement at the 1948 Games, with [[Sam Hoare (actor)|Sam Hoare]] in the role of Burnell and [[Matt Smith (actor)|Matt Smith]] portraying Bushnell.<ref name=mattsmithfilm>{{cite news|last=Jeavans|first=Christine|title=Matt Smith on pain behind 1948 Olympics' Bert and Dickie|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-18393005|access-date=23 July 2012|work=BBC News|date=23 July 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://press.bbcamerica.com/program.jsp?id=73947 |title=Going for Gold – The '48 Games |publisher=[[BBC America]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120807165216/http://press.bbcamerica.com/program.jsp?id=73947 |archive-date=7 August 2012 |access-date=11 June 2017}}</ref>

==References== {{Commons category|Dickie Burnell}} {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burnell, Dickie}} [[Category:1917 births]] [[Category:1995 deaths]] [[Category:English male rowers]] [[Category:English Olympic competitors]] [[Category:Olympic rowers for Great Britain]] [[Category:Rowers at the 1948 Summer Olympics]] [[Category:Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain]] [[Category:Rowers at the 1950 British Empire Games]] [[Category:Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England]] [[Category:Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in rowing]] [[Category:Stewards of Henley Royal Regatta]] [[Category:Sportspeople from Henley-on-Thames]] [[Category:People from Wallingford, Oxfordshire]] [[Category:Olympic medalists in rowing]] [[Category:Rifle Brigade officers]] [[Category:British Army personnel of World War II]] [[Category:British emigrants to Zimbabwe]] [[Category:English emigrants to Zimbabwe]] [[Category:Oxford University Boat Club rowers]] [[Category:Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics]] [[Category:People educated at Eton College]] [[Category:Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford]] [[Category:Military personnel from Oxfordshire]] [[Category:London Rifle Brigade officers]] [[Category:Medallists at the 1950 British Empire Games]] [[Category:20th-century English sportsmen]]