Morris dedicates silver to the people as Olympians bask in last hurrah

Grae Morris has declared Australia’s first windsurfing medal in 32 years the “people’s medal”, saying he’s used the month since returning from France to share his spoils with Sydney’s next generation of sailors.

Speaking alongside 30 other Sydney-based Olympians and Paralympians at Darling Harbour on Friday, the 20-year-old Morris basked in the fanfare of the hundreds of supporters who came out to welcome the athletes home.

Grae Morris lends his Olympic silver medal to a fan at Tumbalong Park on Friday afternoon.Credit: Getty Images

“I definitely take as many chances to go and show the medal to everyone, just to inspire the next generation, and, hopefully, anyone that wants to step their foot in the Olympic campaign,” Morris said.

“It’s definitely a people’s medal, and [I want to] make sure everyone gets their hand on it.”

Among the other athletes was 15-year-old skateboarder Ruby Trew, who finished 11th in the park event. She returned to school for a week after the Olympics, before travelling down to Melbourne for a surf camp, and has since been catching up with friends she missed while in Paris.

Trew required a special leave pass from school to attend Friday’s event, where she signed autographs and took selfies with hordes of children, some of which were older than she.

“Usually, I’d go to school, and people would say, ‘Oh, you go to the school’ – they think I’m new because I’m never there, I’m always training, and when I came back they’re like, ‘oh, that’s the Olympic girl’,” Trew said.

“I still want to be as normal as possible. Being a schoolgirl, I really enjoy it.”

Ruby Trew poses for a photo with schoolchildren at Tumbalong Park on Friday.Credit: AAPIMAGE

Trew won’t be a regular fixture at school for much longer, with competitions in Japan and Brazil expected to pull her back onto the global circuit in the next few months.

While Trew is yet to graduate from high school, Morris will return to his old stomping ground, Woollahra Sailing Club, for an “official celebration” next Sunday.

He said that while Marseille would “always hold a special place in my heart”, nothing could beat the picturesque backdrop and conditions of Sydney Harbour.

Fellow sailor Jim Colley, who finished 15th in the men’s skiff, remembers when Malcolm Page showed off his Beijing 2008 gold medal at his junior sailing club when he was 10.

He’ll do the same thing on Sunday morning, when he meets with the next generation of sailors from the northern beaches.

“That was the first taste of ‘wow, this could be me’,” Colley said. “It’s a really nice circle … and hopefully, I can inspire a few other young people.”

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