Favourites take top Olympic Skiff Sailing medals after dramatic Marseille Medal Races

The Olympic Skiff Sailing medals have been awarded after Medal Races on Froday 2nd August. Andi Roberston reports from the Olympic Sailing venue in Marseille

Riding a huge wave of confidence after guiding Spain to victory as underdogs in Sail GP’s grand final in San Francisco, Diego Botin and Florian Trittel produced a gun-to-gun medal race victory to clinch the Olympic Skiff gold medal at Paris 2024.

Young Kiwi pair Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie took silver to extend their nations run of skiff medal successes which goes back to 2012 whilst the USA’s Ian Barrows and Hans Henken grabbed bronze.

Probably ranked as joint gold medal favourites along with the Dutch world champions Bart Lambriex and Floris van der Verken, the Spanish 49er duo managed to maintain the highest level of consistency though an Olympic Sailing regatta of very mixed, often light conditions.

They led the fleet into today’s medal race whilst the Dutch only scraped in at the 11th hour after the Chinese pairing were disqualified for a technical rules infringement on their boat.

In the 10-11 knots of SW’ly breeze the Spanish duo timed their start best and were quickly powered up and in the lead. Among the four Olympic Skiff teams which jumped the gun were Ireland’s Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove. After going into the medal race in second position they finished ninth to drop to fourth overall.

It is a bitter double Olympic disappointment for the Irish pair who were cruelly disqualified from two races in Tokyo for a trapeze harness which was 90 grammes too heavy.

Helm Botin told waiting journalists, “It is such an honour to have won the first gold medal for Spain, it is an indescribable feeling. It has been a very tough week, our weather conditions have not been great, and yet we have managed to do it.

“But we have spent many years preparing for this moment. We have failed many times but without those failures and the accumulated experiences it would have been impossible to achieve what we have achieved today. Today we have combined all that experience, all that work, and we have achieved the gold, the best that can be achieved. To have done it with all our team and our families here is to do it in the best scenario.”

Trittel added, “For us there was no other result, we had visualised this situation many times and there was no other result. These have been long days, and yesterday not being able to win the Medal… it has seemed eternal. But everything has turned out perfectly.

“It has been a tough week physically and also mentally. The key was to stay focused until the last day, which was costly and difficult, but once again, when push came to shove, we managed to handle the pressure, put in a great Medal Race and take this victory. This victory belongs to everyone who supported us and without them, we would certainly not be here.”

Dutch team takes the Women’s Olympic Skiff win

A minor aberration – sailing low when leading to where they thought the finish line was – cost Dutch world champions Odile van Aanholt and Annette Duetz certain victory in the Medal Race and dropped them to third, but they landed the first sailing gold medal of Paris 2024.

Whilst France’s Sarah Steyaert and Charline Picon – overall leaders by a point – started by the signal boat and struggled for wind pressure early on the first upwind, the Dutch duo were fastest and smoothest round the course until they misplaced the finish line.

Their mistake allowed Sweden’s powerhouse duo Vilma Bobeck and Rebecca Netzler to win the silver.

For three times 49er FX World Champion Duetz it is her second medal after winning bronze with Annemiek Bekkering at Tokyo 2020.

Van Aanholt summed up their feelings, “We are kind of used to the changes in the weather we always just look to control what we can control, but it is has been quite a tough week with so many changes in the weather. But it showcases all the different faces of our sport and it also showcases you cannot just be a one trick pony. We were upset about some days and proud at others, we are so especially very proud of how we sailed today, it is how you want to sail a race. We would have wished the boys better because they are such great sailors. It is what it is.”

Inspirational Sarah Steyaert and Charline Picon were ecstatic to deliver France their first sailing medal of Paris 2024, taking bronze in front of the huge partisan crowd. Steyaert had taken a five year break after her sixth in the Laser Radial in Rio 2016 before joining up with double Olympic windsurfing medallist Picon in the Women’s Skiff.

With their very young families they set up camp in La Rochelle. The support of their family, team and friends has been key but their success owes as much to their ability to still thrive whilst training and at major events balancing domestic and competitive requirements.

Taking silver at the last European Championships gave them the final element of self belief required coming into these Olympics. Their tactical nous, maturity under pressure and speed in the light served them well, but giving 10 kilos away to the more powerful duos saw them struggle for speed at times, especially against the Dutch world champions and the Swedes who took silver.

Keep up to date with all our Olympic Sailing 2024 coverage.
You can find all the Olympic sailing results at the World Sailing Olympic results page

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