Five hundred Dunstan High School (DHS) students and staff welcomed Alexandra’s kayak cross Olympic gold medalist Finn Butcher to DHS sports hall of fame today, complete with an archway of raised paddles, a waiata and a haka.  

Watch a short video of some highlights of the homecoming here (2 minutes, 45 seconds). VIDEO: The Central App 

Finn, who was in DHS’s Pyke house, completed his final year, 12 years ago.

He said it felt very special to bring the medal home and share his experience with students. 

He fielded questions from students about his time in the Olympic village, the eco-friendly options there, the physical nature of kayak cross, the atmosphere at the whitewater venue and how it felt to win gold.

“It was the most amazing feeling ever . . . just euphoria pretty much of realising the dreams of a little kid . . . now getting to hold this thing all the time and bring it home, it's been, honestly, crazy. 

“I’m still on cloud nine and I don’t think I’ll be down for some time. I haven’t let this out of my sight for very long.”

Finn’s former PE teacher Alan Hamilton (Bones) collected items for the school’s hall of fame from Finn, including a NZ team singlet and photos from Paris 2024. 

Finn stayed around for photos with students after the session.

Finn took a moment to catch up with South Island Secondary Schools medalist Adeline Ball. 

Adeline Ball (14) said it was really cool to meet Finn.

She took her canoe polo medal she won at the South Island Secondary Schools in Oamaru last year to have her photo taken with him.

“I’m still shaking after [meeting him],” Adeline said.

Students welcomed Finn eager to meet him, take selfies and feel the weight of an Olympic gold medal.

Finn talked about the mana wave and how he came to drop one at the start of the race.

“I knew we’d have the intro thing at the Olympics on TV . . . I was thinking, shoot, what am I going to do on the camera [because] I knew that there would be millions of people watching worldwide, which is pretty daunting.

“There’s nothing more Kiwi at the moment, than throwing that out.”

He did the wave on the first day and drew a lot of Instagram comments calling it a “mean mana wave.”. 

“Thought I’d continue it on, it might have been the secret ingredient, who knows?”

Finn also visited his former primary school, Alexandra Primary School (APS), earlier this week.

At APS he let 220 ākonga (learners) hold his medal and told them how he got started in kayaking, by attending a have a go day when he was only nine years old.  

Read more: Gold returns home with Olympian

Read more: Alexandra’s Finn Butcher wins Olympic Gold

PHOTOS/VIDEO: The Central App