The new day of the Olympic regatta was not only characterised by a shower of medals, but also by the "oldies". The 54-year-old Santiago Lange, the oldest of the 380 Olympic sailors in Rio de Janeiro, won the gold medal in the youngest Olympic discipline Nacra 17 with his foresailor Cecilia Carranza Saroli. After overcoming cancer last year, Lange, whose two sons had qualified for the skiff final on Thursday in seventh place after twelve races in the 49er on Tuesday, sailed to Olympic victory for Argentina. The scenes of family jubilation that followed were rousingly beautiful.
Australia's Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanain secured silver in the new Olympic mixed catamaran discipline. Austria's Thomas Zajac and Tanja Frank were overjoyed to take bronze, the first sailing medal for the Alpine republic at these XXXI Olympic Games. The fact that Santi Lange was able to win the test of strength in the new Olympic twin-hulls shows that sailing is and remains a sport of experience, but also reminds us once again of the challenges that the Nacra 17 crews had to face on the light wind, "holey" and unpredictable Sugarloaf course on several occasions and in which some teams that were ranked higher before the Olympics got out of step.
At the same time, five-time medallist Robert Scheidt bid farewell to the Olympic sailing stage on Tuesday. The Brazilian with a German grandfather ended his career in fourth place without the hoped-for sixth medal at his sixth Olympic start with mixed feelings: "I would have liked to have had the medal. But I will remember the victory in the final and the opening ceremony, where I was able to swear the oath for the athletes, as unforgettable moments." Afterwards, Scheidt gave a greeting in German: "Thank you for everything! See you at the Kieler Woche!" With this cheeky greeting, the 43-year-old nine-time Laser World Champion also left a back door open for his comeback.
"Medal of Courage" for Billy Besson
The "medal of courage" and many fans' hearts were won by Frenchman Billy Besson at the XXXI Summer Games. The 35-year-old four-time world champion in the new Olympic mixed catamaran discipline Nacra 17 and undisputed top favourite for gold with his foresailor Marie Riou long before the Olympics had injured his back two weeks before the Olympic Games during a training session off Quiberon as a result of a "plug".
On the day before the Nacra 17 Olympic regatta, Besson was taken to the ramp of his catamaran in a wheelchair for a test run. Besson's appearances in the harbour, accompanied by helpers, not only hurt the helmsman, who was born in Papeete on Tahiti and grew up on sailing boats - his team and the fans suffered too. On the days of the regatta, the Frenchman tortured himself in pain and bent over the harbour apron and on his twin-hulled projectile, which he normally controls like a cat. While he was at least able to hang in the trapeze in stronger winds, moving across the boat in lighter winds caused him major problems. The fact that Besson was able to sail at all was nothing short of a minor miracle. The fact that he was able to celebrate a regatta day with 2nd, 1st and 1st place after a bitter start with Marie was worthy of all honour. In the end, sixth place was the honour for a great Olympic battle. The French Nacra 17 champions were unable to win the well-deserved medal due to the injury. However, they were not only awarded the "Medaille de Courage" by the French sports magazine "L'Équipe".
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
