A piece of New Zealand sporting history has been stolen, with Olympic gold medalist Les O’Connell losing his precious 1984 medal in a burglary while he was away.

O’Connell said he and his wife had travelled to Napier for a wedding on Friday and were due to return home later today when their son rang with the news.

“Our son rang this morning to say the garage door was open. He went in to investigate and the house had been ransacked,” O’Connell said.

He said the burglary likely happened sometime between Friday night and today while the family was away.

“All my tools were taken and they had access to keys from inside the house,” he said.

The burglary occurred at the family’s home in the Christchurch suburb of Strowan. O’Connell said while much of the stolen property could be replaced, the loss of his Olympic gold medal was devastating.

“That medal holds more value to me than dollars and cents. Everything else can be replaced but that is the one thing you cannot replace,” he said.

O’Connell won gold in the men’s coxless four at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984, and said the medal had been kept hidden rather than displayed.

“The interesting thing is the other medals were hanging on the wall and they were not taken. The Olympic one was the one I did not want on display,” he said.

“All we are worried about is they try to destroy it or melt it down or whatever they think they can do. We would just like it back intact,” O’Connell said.

“It is quite disturbing to know your house has been ransacked while you were gone. You wonder whether someone knew we were away or whether it was just opportunistic,” he said.

O’Connell said his family had never experienced a break in like this before.

“We have had vehicles stolen from outside but no one has ever broken into the house,” he said.

Reflecting on the medal, O’Connell said the memories attached to it remained vivid.

“I remember the day clearly. I had been world champion for the two years before the Olympics so it was the whole build up to that moment,” he said.

“To be honest, it is the public perception that makes the Olympics different to world championships. I value those medals just as much because I know the challenges involved. I am lucky they were not taken.”

He had a direct message for whoever took the medal.

“We are not interested in the other material things. We just want the medal back. If they could return it, that would be great,” O’Connell said.

Police have been notified and are expected to attend the property once the family returns home.