Matt WEARN

Aged 15, Wearn was selected in the West Perth Development Squad, a feeder into the West Australian Football League and, later, the AFL. But he decided to walk away and pursue sailing, a comparatively fringe sport in Australia, which he hasn’t regretted since.

Wearn raced at the 2010 Laser Radial Youth World Championships, his first major competition, and finished 14th. Two years later, he stepped onto the podium at the senior Laser Radial World Championships in Brisbane.

Once Wearn moved to the Olympic class Laser standard sailboat, he came under the tutelage of Michael Blackburn, a Sydney 2000 bronze medal winner in sailing. Despite his progress, the Perth-born sailor missed out on making the cut for the Rio 2016 Summer Games, losing out to eventual gold medallist Tom Burton.

At Split 2017, Wearn secured his first Laser class world championship medal, a bronze, finishing behind Burton. He upgraded to silver at Aarhus 2018 to win Sailing Australia’s Male Sailor of The Year award.

Nicknamed ‘Wearn Dawg’, he bagged three Laser class world championship silver medals in a row, following his success at Sakaiminato 2019 and Melbourne 2020.

Later, Wearn pipped Burton for a place at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. It was well-rewarded as he won Australia’s third-consecutive gold medal in the men’s single-handed dinghy at the Summer Games.

His 2022 season, sadly, was restricted due to COVID-19. Notably, that year he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia at the 2022 Australia Day Honours.

Wearn bounced back strongly in 2023, winning the ILCA 7 event at the World Championships in Hague. He then replicated the feat in Adelaide the following year.

At the Paris 2024 Olympics, Matt was firmly in the lead heading into the medal race. The Australian sailor then confirmed his second Olympic title by winning the medal race in Marseille.

Courtesy of his achievements, Wearn was selected as one of Australia’s flag-bearers at the Paris 2024 Olympics Closing Ceremony.