Matt Wearn defended his Olympic title with a well-executed sail in the Men’s Dinghy Medal Race.
The ILCA 7 / Men’s Dinghy competition finished today in Marseille –sailing venue of Paris 2024 Olympic Games– with reigning champion Matt Wearn AUS winning his second consecutive Gold Olympic medal.
This victory means Australia has now won the last four Men’s Dinghy Olympic gold medals, starting with Tom Slingsby in London 2012, followed by Tom Burton in Rio 2016, and Matt Wearn in Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024.
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 – Matt Wearn AUS.
In his fifth Olympic Games, the European representative Pavlos Kontides CYP from Cyprus crossed the finish line right behind Wearn to claim his second Olympic Silver medal, recreating the magic of London 2012.
I’m over the moon, I had tears of joy sailing back to the shore. And then I was with my wife, my family, my friends who were supporting me. A second Olympic medal for my country and it came from myself – Pavlos Kontides CYP.
Completing the top three was Peru’s Stefano Peschiera PER who, despite finishing ninth in the Medal Race, managed to hold on to take home a famous bronze which is Peru’s first Olympic medal in 32 years.
It’s hard to describe how this feels. It took a lot of hard work and it came out positively throughout the week and finally closing out the chapter is such a relief, after such a tough race – Stefano Peschiera PER.
Six out of the top ten sailors competing in Men’s Medal Race today were representing European countries, finishing the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in the following places:
- Matt Wearn AUS 🥇🇦🇺
- Pavlos Kontides CYP 🥈🇨🇾
- Stefano Peschiera PER 🥉🇵🇪
- Jonatan Vadnai HUN 🇭🇺
- Hermann Tomasgaard NOR 🇳🇴
- Michael Beckett GBR 🇬🇧
- Thomas Saunders NZL 🇳🇿
- Clemente Seguel Lacamara CHI 🇨🇱
- Lorenzo Brando Chiavarini ITA 🇮🇹
- Finn Lynch IRL 🇮🇪
Congrats, guys!!!
#keepsmilingkeepsailing
The EurILCA Team
Report by Agustín Argüelles – EurILCA | Photos by World Sailing / Lloyd Images / Jean-Louis Carli.
