Joanna Ayela Aleh (born 15 May 1986) is a New Zealand sailor. She is a national champion, a former world champion, and an Olympic gold medallist.

Early and personal life

Aleh is

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

, and was born in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, daughter of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i father Shuki Shukrun and

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

-born mother Daniella Aleh, a former

Israeli soldier The Israeli Ground Forces () are the ground forces of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The commander is the General Officer Commanding with the rank of major general, the ''Mazi'', subordinate to the Chief of General Staff. An order from Defen ...

. She lives in Auckland where she began a degree in Mechanical Engineering at

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

. When her sailing commitments increased, she moved to

AUT AUT may refer to the following. Locations *Austria (ISO 3166-1 country code) *Agongointo-Zoungoudo Underground Town, Benin * Aktio–Preveza Undersea Tunnel, Greece *Airstrip on Atauro Island, East Timor (IATA airport code) Organizations *Arri ...

to continue her engineering degree, and later began studying a Bachelor of Information Science at

Massey University Massey University () is a Public university, public research university in New Zealand that provides internal and distance education. The university has campuses in Auckland, Palmerston North, and Wellington. Data from Universities New Zealand ...

extramurally. Her Israeli name is Kesem Shukrun, and she had a

Bat Mitzvah A ''bar mitzvah'' () or ''bat mitzvah'' () is a coming of age ritual in Judaism. According to Jewish law, before children reach a certain age, the parents are responsible for their child's actions. Once Jewish children reach that age, they a ...

Be'er Sheva Beersheba ( / ; ), officially Be'er-Sheva, is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the centre of the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in Israel, the eighth-most po ...

. She is a member of Beth Shalom, a Progressive Jewish congregation in Auckland. In the

2013 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2013 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

, Aleh was appointed a

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ...

for services to sailing.

Sailing career

Just before her ninth birthday, Aleh was impressed by the New Zealand victory in the 1995

America's Cup The America's Cup is a sailing competition and the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one from the yacht club that currently holds the trophy (known ...

, and asked her father if she could learn to sail. She did a learn to sail course at the Ponsonby Cruising Club and with the help of her extended family a small sailing dinghy was purchased. She began her competitive career at the age of 11 in an

Optimist Optimism is the attitude or mindset of expecting events to lead to particularly positive, favorable, desirable, and hopeful outcomes. A common idiom used to illustrate optimism versus pessimism is a glass filled with water to the halfway poin ...

. Her first competition event was the

Auckland Anniversary Regatta The first Auckland Anniversary Day, Auckland Anniversary Regatta took place in 1840 and has grown to become one of the largest single day regattas and is the oldest sporting event in New Zealand. As a yachting event it pre-dates the Americas Cup, ...

, for

Kohimarama Kohimarama is a coastal residential Auckland suburb, located to the east of the city. Kohimarama is situated between Mission Bay and St Heliers and has an accessible beach with a boardwalk and green recreational spaces located amongst reside ...

YC, in 1998. She then made sailing history as the first female to win the

Tanner Cup The Tanner Cup is a New Zealand youth inter-provincial sailing competition. One under 17 year old sailor from each region competes in P Class yachts. The competition is named after George Tanner, who donated the trophy, and was first sailed in ...

since its inception in 1945. This highly contested interprovincial competition is sailed in P-class sailing dinghies. She won the Auckland Optimist Girls' Championship in 2000, in Kohimarama YC. Her first international competition was the 2002 Cork Regatta, in

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

, Canada, in the Byte Class, where she won both the Youth and Open divisions, then moved onto the youth classes (under 18) and competed at two ISAF Youth World Championships, finishing with a silver medal in her final year. Aleh then began the road to Beijing, competing in the Laser Radial class (women's single handed class) with a string of successful results including a World Cup event win, and a silver medal at the Pre-Olympic Test Event in Qingdao, China. In 2007, she won the

420 420 may refer to: Science and technology * 420 (number), in mathematics * 420 Bertholda, a main-belt asteroid * 4:2:0, a chroma subsampling layout Cannabis culture * 420 (cannabis culture), informal reference to cannabis use and celebrations ...

World Championships at

Takapuna Takapuna is a suburb located on the North Shore, New Zealand, North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. The suburb is an isthmus between Shoal Bay, New Zealand, Shoal Bay, arm of the Waitematā Harbour, and the Hauraki Gulf. Lake Pupuke, a volca ...

, sailing with Olivia "Polly" Powrie. She then competed at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

in Women's one-person dinghy, coming seventh. Aleh and her sailing partner Olivia ''Polly'' Powrie won a silver medal in the 2010

470 World Championships The 470 World Championships have been held every year since 1970 and organised by the club on behalf of the International 470 Class Association and recognized by World Sailing. When the Championship forms part of the ISAF Sailing World Championshi ...

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

, Netherlands, and a bronze medal in the 470 World Championships in the

2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships The 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships was held in Perth, Western Australia, this was the third edition of the ISAF Sailing World Championships. It is the world championships for all disciplines used at the upcoming Olympics. As it used to ...

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, Australia. She and Powrie finished fourth at the Barcelona World Championships in May 2012, won the women's 470 class in the World Cup in Weymouth, England, in June 2012, and are the current New Zealand 470 national champions. In August 2012 she and Powrie won the gold medal in the

470 class The 470 (Four-Seventy) is a double-handed monohull planing dinghy with a centreboard, Bermuda rig, and centre sheeting. Equipped with a spinnaker, trapeze and a large sail-area-to-weight ratio, it is designed to plane easily, and good teamwork i ...

at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

Weymouth and Portland Weymouth and Portland was a local government district with borough status in Dorset, England from 1974 to 2019. It consisted of the resort of Weymouth and the Isle of Portland, and includes the areas of Wyke Regis, Preston, Melcombe Regi ...

, England. In August 2013, a year after winning their Olympic gold medal, Aleh and Powrie won the world title at the 2013

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle'') is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime Departments of France, department. Wi ...

, France. Aleh twice achieved world Number 1, in the Women's Laser Radial on 5 March 2008, and the Women's 470 in 2013. Her coach since 2009 has been Nathan Handley. She is a life member of the Kohimarama Yacht Club, Takapuna Boating Club and Yachting New Zealand, and is a current member of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. Aleh trialled with ''

Team Brunel ''Team Brunel'' is a Volvo Ocean 65 yacht. She finished 3rd in the 2017–18 Volvo Ocean Race skippered by Bouwe Bekking and navigated by Andrew Cape. She finished second in the 2014–15 Volvo Ocean Race, also skippered by Bouwe Bekking. Th ...

'' before the 2017–18 Volvo Ocean Race but was not selected and instead joined consultancy firm

Ernst & Young EY, previously known as Ernst & Young, is a multinational corporation, multinational professional services partnership, network based in London, United Kingdom. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four accounting firms, Big F ...

. On 26 July 2024 Aleh was announced as a flag bearer for the New Zealand team at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

, along with Aaron Gate.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aleh, Jo 1986 births New Zealand Jews Jewish New Zealand sportspeople Living people Sailors (sport) from Auckland Sailors at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Laser Radial Sailors at the 2012 Summer Olympics – 470 Sailors at the 2016 Summer Olympics – 470 Sailors at the 2024 Summer Olympics – 49er FX New Zealand female sailors (sport) University of Auckland alumni Olympic gold medalists for New Zealand in sailing Olympic silver medalists for New Zealand New Zealand people of British descent New Zealand people of Israeli descent Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics ISAF World Sailor of the Year (female) 470 class world champions Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron sailors 420 class world champions World champions in sailing for New Zealand People educated at Westlake Girls High School Massey University alumni International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame inductees New Zealand SailGP Team sailors 21st-century New Zealand sportswomen

Early and personal life

Sailing career

See also

References

External links