Paris 2024 Olympics – First Paris Sailing Golds to Holland and Spain
In Marseille, the 49er and 49erFX Skiff classes were the first to win Olympic sailing medals.
The first team to win in the 49erFX category was Odile van Aanholt and Annette Duetz from the Netherlands, claiming the Gold medal.
Sweden's Vilma Bobeck and Rebecca Netzler claimed the silver medal in the 49erFX category, while France's Sarah Steyaert and Charline Picon secured the bronze.
Next, Diego Botin and Florian Trittel from Spain won the 49er Skiff Gold medal.
The team from New Zealand, Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie, won the silver medal while the duo from the USA, Ian Barrows and Hans Henken, claimed the bronze medal in the 49er class.
The races for the medals had unexpected events and surprises.
During the women's race, Aanholt and Annette almost made a mistake by heading towards the wrong finish line. They had to quickly drop their kite and recover when they realized their error, allowing Sweden to sail past them and reach the correct finish line first. Despite this mishap, the Dutch pair managed to cross the finish line in third place, securing the first sailing Gold medal of the Paris 2024 Olympics.
In the men's 49er race, three boats were penalized for starting early, including Ireland, who were in contention for the silver medal.
This paved the path for the New Zealand team to surge ahead, securing third place and winning the silver medal, while Ireland finished in ninth place and fourth overall.
Britain came in 7th place in the men's event and 16th place in the women's event.
The top competitors in the 49erFX Women's division maintain their lead after the final race for the medals.
GOLD went to Odile van Aanholt and Annette Duetz with 74 points, SILVER to Vilma Bobeck and Rebecca Netzler with 76 points, and BRONZE to Sarah Steyaert and Charline Picon with 79 points. Norway, Italy, Germany, New Zealand, Brazil, Australia, and the USA also placed in the top 10. Great Britain came in 16th with Freya Black & Saskia Tidey.
In total, the 49er Men's event concluded with the final leaders determined after the medal race.
GOLD went to Diego Botin and Florian Trittel of ESP with 70 points. The SILVER was awarded to NZL's Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie with 82 points. USA's Ian Barrows and Hans Henken took home the BRONZE with 88 points. IRL, Poland, and the Netherlands also placed in the top 6. Great Britain, Switzerland, Croatia, and Uruguay rounded out the top 10.
