Matt Wearn & Marit Bouwmeester Take ILCA Gold in Marseille
After a frustrating few days of light winds in Marseille in the Men’s Dinghy Matt Wearn went into the delayed medal race carrying a 14-point advantage over Cyprus’ Pavlos Kontides. Pavlos was the only sailor who could overtake him for gold.
At first, Matt attempted to match race the Pavlos until the opening attempt at the Medal Race was abandoned. In the second instalment, Matt decided to go all out and stormed to victory with Pavlos second. Peruvian Stefano Peschiera who gained his starting place through World Sailing’s Emerging Nations Program had a great regatta winning bronze after some hard fought medal race duelling with GBR’s Michael Beckett. Stefano’s medal was Peru’s first Olympic medal in 32 years.
Matt’s result means Australia has now won the last four Men’s Dinghy Olympic gold medals, beginning with Tom Slingsby in London and continuing with Tom Burton in Rio and Matt in Tokyo and Paris. Pavlos Kontides, was in his fifth Olympic Games, and this was his second silver medal. He was runner up to Tom Slingsby in London 2012.
Straight after the event Matt said: “It’s been quite hard to deal with the waiting at times, luckily we didn’t have to wait for another day and now we can celebrate and have some fun. My parents have helped me all the way. There have been times when I haven’t enjoyed the sport as much, but they’ve really helped, they’re incredible parents.
“The expectation has been tougher this time, being the reigning champion and winning the last two World Championships. I had that target on my back and that was new and different.”
Netherland’s Marit Bouwmeester had already wrapped up the Women’s Dinghy gold medal before the medal race. She finished in the top five on seven occasions during the Opening Series, but persistent light wind meant she had to wait an extra day before getting her long-awaited prize.
By winning gold, Bouwmeester became the most successful female Olympic sailor ever, overtaking Great Britain’s two-time Olympic champion Hannah Mills in the process. She has now won two golds in Paris and Rio, a silver in London and a bronze in Tokyo.
Anne-Marie Rindom was unable to defend her Olympic title from Tokyo but settled for a super silver, which she also had wrapped up prior to the Medal Race, in which she finished fifth.
The only medal up for grabs heading into the Medal Race was the bronze and it was Line Flem Hoest’s to lose. The Norwegian went into the finale sitting in third and held on to that spot, crossing the finish line in second behind Italy’s Chiara Benini Floriani to take home a bronze medal.
Marit Bouwmeester said: “In the build-up to the Medal Race I tried to stay focused, but I’m also a mum as well so I had to be there for Jessie Mae. I’ve been with her a lot, putting her to bed and being there when she wakes up. It’s nice to finally finish it off, it hasn’t sunk in yet.
“I think sometimes at the Olympics you can get too serious too quickly, so it’s nice to have a distraction with Jessie Mae. Then you also have the lack of sleep and the loss of energy, but I’m grateful to be a mum and an athlete.”
