Double Olympic gold medalist Simon Dickie dies at age 66

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - Simon Dickie, who coxed New Zealand rowing crews to Olympic victories at Mexico City in 1968 and Munich in 1972, has died. He was 66.

Rowing New Zealand announced his death, but gave no details.

Dickie was only 17 when he was a member of the coxed four when won New Zealand's first Olympic gold medal in rowing at Mexico City.

Four years later, he was cox of the New Zealand eight which caused a major upset in winning its final, beating an East German crew in an era when East Germany operated a state-sponsored doping system.

Athol Earl, a member of the gold medal-winning eight, said Dickie "had an outstanding talent for reading crews and reading races and had a knack of changing the race plan at just the right time."