Butcher has this morning joined the ranks of the southern sporting greats by winning gold in the men’s kayak cross at the Paris Olympics.
The sport was making its Olympic debut so the 29-year-old from Alexandra will be immortalised as its inaugural champion.
After winning his quarterfinal, Butcher finished second behind Britain's world No 1 Joe Clarke in the semifinal.
Clarke was tipped by many to win the final but Butcher made a wonderful start, negotiated the gates superbly and comfortably claimed gold.
Winning an Olympic gold medal was ‘‘insane’’, he said.
‘‘I'm so stoked. Just a kid from Alex on top of the world.
‘‘It feels special to bring it home.’’
Butcher spoke to the Otago Daily Times this morning and said he was still getting his head around the magnitude of his achievement.
"It’s been madness, to be honest. It’s unreal. Pretty epic.
"But I’m still lost for words and still don’t really believe I’ve got this thing hanging around my neck.
"You just look at this gold medal and, yeah, it’s unreal. It’s crazy."
Butcher, who learned his trade from revered Central Otago coach Gordon Rayner, who was in Paris to see his former student shine, knew he was capable of winning an Olympic medal.
"I’ve had a lot of dreams. A lot of dreams.
"You can dream, but for it to actually happen is wild. It’s going to take a while to sink in.
"I’m just so stoked. We put a lot of work in, and I’m so happy we could execute when it mattered."
Butcher earlier said he could feel Clarke all the way.
‘‘All the way down the course, the New Zealanders were running beside me, screaming. so loud — they pushed me to the end.’’
Butcher said his results leading up to the Olympics also gave him confidence.
"I had some good results early on in the season, I was third in the first World Cup and sixth in the next one, so I knew I could battle with the top guys and once you're in the semi and in the final, anything can happen from there."
One of the first to greet Butcher as he came off the course was his long-time friend and training partner Luuka Jones, who only minutes earlier endured the heartbreak of missing out on the final in the women's event after her second-place finish in the semifinal was downgraded to fourth due to a fault at one of the gates.
- additional reporting RNZ
