Olympics: Wind and emotions ride a rollercoaster in Marseille - Meyer and Maus in the semi-finals
Tatjana Pokorny
· 07.08.2024
The winners of the eleventh day of the Olympic regatta in Marseille are Matt Wearn and Marit Bouwmeester. The top-favoured Ilca giants also won the race in Marseille. Marit Bouwmeester was able to enjoy her gala, as she had already secured gold before the final after an outstanding series. Matt Wearn had to make another effort - and did so as the winner of the Medal Race. The gold medals in the single-handed dinghy discipline went to Australia and the Netherlands.
Down Under back on top at the Olympics
The Australian continued the streak of his famous compatriots and his own, sailing to a fourth consecutive Australian Olympic victory in the Ilca 7 after exceptional sailor Tom Slingsby (2012), Tom Burton (2016) and his own first title in Enoshima. Matt Wearn said at the press conference with the medallists that evening: "The last three years have been an up and down ride, but we've kept ticking the boxes. This week has been about getting the job done and we've done that."
Wearn was also happy that the Ilca 7 final in the doldrums of Marseille didn't have to be pushed back another day, saying: "Luckily we didn't have to wait another day and now we can celebrate and have fun. My parents helped me all the way. There were times when I didn't enjoy the sport so much, but they've really helped me, they're incredible parents."
"The expectations for me were higher this time," said Matt Wearn, "as I am the reigning champion and have won the last two world championships. I had that target on my back and that was new and different." Tears of joy were not only streaming down the face of second-placed Pavlos Kontides as he entered the Olympic harbour in Marseille that day ...
Olympic champion without, but also with a child
Olympic champion Marit Bouwmeester - now the most successful female Olympic sailor in the history of the sport with two gold, one silver and one bronze medal - fought for a medal in Marseille under different conditions than in her last three medal-winning Olympic appearances. Marit Bouwmeester said: "In preparation for the Medal Race I tried to concentrate, but I am also a mum. So I had to be there for Jessie Mae. I was with her a lot, put her to bed and was there when she woke up. It's nice to have finally done it, I haven't really realised it yet."
The hardened athlete Bouwmeester is known for how hard she works for her successes. But she also showed a different face at these Games, saying after her triumph: "I think sometimes at the Olympics you get too serious too quickly, so it's nice to have a distraction with Jessie Mae. There's also the lack of sleep and the loss of energy, but I'm grateful to be a mum and an athlete."
The winners of the two mixed disciplines Nacra 17 and 470 could not yet celebrate on this day. After a long wait, both medal races had to be postponed to the final day of the Olympic sailing series in Marseille. This means that Thursday will be a multiple showdown, because in addition to the two two-handed fleets, the kiters will also be challenged. Jannis Maus from the Cuxkiters and Leonie Meyer from the NRV Olympic Team secured their place in the semi-finals in the shortened programme of just seven races for the men and only six races for the women.
With medal chances in the semi-finals: Meyer and Maus
The new Olympic kitesurfers also suffered badly from the lack of wind at their premiere. The sport of the "flying kite tamer", which was included in the Olympic programme due to its telegenic nature, was not even included in the official programme. Instead of the 16 planned races for the fastest Olympic discipline of the Summer Games, only just over a third were organised. On several occasions, the high-speed capabilities of the kiteboarders, who can set off at speeds of just six knots, were not fully utilised.
So they were challenged on Wednesday on the Calanque course. Three quarters of an hour was scheduled for the approach. No start was allowed before that. Among other things, this meant missing out on a good wind window. "We can reach the course in five or ten minutes, we don't need as long as some boat classes," explained Alina Kornelli, who was competing for Austria. She was one of those who would have loved to compete in a few more main round races on Wednesday. Because there weren't any, Kornelli was eliminated in eleventh place after the main round.
She explained what was also difficult or even annoying for many others: "It's bitter that I didn't make it into the medal series by two points. But what annoys me even more is that we are here to kite, to race. We sat on the beach for the most part, staying out of the sun. When you come here and then only complete six races in four days instead of 16, it's just annoying and sad."
I hope for tomorrow that the athletes can show how great Formula Kite is in the Medal Race" (Alina Kornelli)
Alina Kornelli continued: "We would have had the chance today because of the wind. I don't know why they didn't send us out again. Our sport in general has suffered - it can only get better. We have such a cool, action-packed sport and it wasn't broadcast on TV. How is our sport supposed to get bigger like that?"
Jannis Maus would also have liked to improve on his fifth place in his favourite "tricky" conditions on Wednesday in further races to give himself an even better starting position. Or possibly be seeded first or second in the group for the four-man final. But the 28-year-old from Oldenburg is also looking forward to the semi-final.
"All or nothing" on the last day
The kiters in third to tenth place after the main round will compete in the men's and women's semi-finals in two groups of four: Semi-final A and Semi-final B. The respective semi-final group winners will meet the top two seeds from the main round in the final. Unlike the iQFoiL windsurfers, the kiters will each have four athletes in the final of the showdown. One and one will remain without a medal.
"We prepared intensively for this scenario," said Jannis Maus on the evening before his semi-final about the work with his Flensburg coach Jan-Hauke Erichsen. Jannis Maus had already said before his Olympic debut: "If I make it to the final, then I want to win a medal."
Despite the cancellation of all kite races on Wednesday, the doctoral student in renewable energies was optimistic about the final day. "I firmly believe in myself. And I believe in Leonie too," he said in the evening in the Olympic harbour of Marseille. The 31-year-old doctor and mum Leonie Meyer laughed and said: "It's funny that we're going into the semi-finals with the same ranking. It's all or nothing now." It is now the German kiters in the final sprint who could still give the national sailing team the medal(s) that have been too difficult to win so far.
