Olympic champions Bond, Murray, Drysdale to take year off

Double Olympic rowing champions Hamish Bond and Eric Murray are taking 12 months off next year to decide whether they will continue in the pairs after eight years of domination. Twice Olympic single sculls champion Mahe Drysdale has also decided to take a year off, Rowing New Zealand (RNZ) said in a statement on Friday, with an eye to competing in Tokyo 2020 at the age of 41. Bond and Murray were put together in the pairs in 2009 and were unbeaten until the 2016 Rio Games.