A fresh start

02/08/2024

3 races, first in Course Racing and then in the Slalom, contested on Thursday in the iQFOiL event of the Olympic Games, enabled the top 10 women and men to be finalised, who will battle it out on Friday for the gold medal. Among the favourites, however, there was a cruel disappointment for Frenchman Nicolas Goyard, who missed out on his final day and finished 15th.

All week long, the wind has been playing on the nerves of the competitors in this iQFOiL competition at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and this Thursday, the 5th day of racing, is no exception... After a lot of waiting ashore and in an ill-settled south-westerly wind, it's the Course Racing format that first takes pride of place on the Corniche zone in a wind blowing between 11 and 13 knots, a surprising and not really appropriate choice on the part of Race Management when the conditions are rather favourable for the Slalom. The organisers persisted despite the wind, which quickly died down, and managed to validate 1 women's race and 2 men's races. After a long period of hesitation (decidedly so!), the decision was finally taken to move to the Frioul zone, where the Slalom was an obvious choice, given the fresher wind. The only hitch was that the windsurfers had to share the race zone with the Dinghy, whose competition starts on Thursday. Race Management was slow to set up the Slalom course and, in the meantime, with temperatures of 40°C outside, the competitors were waiting and overheating, while the spirits (although patient until then!) were getting restless... After long minutes of procrastination (and even the suggestion by some of the racers to position the buoys themselves instead of the organisers!) the course was finally set up and 2 Slalom races were run for the women and only 1 for the men.

In the women's race, England's Emma Wilson was unflappable and continued her fine form. She secured a place in the medal race final and a medal, either gold or silver depending on the final result. Less consistent than in previous days, Sharon Kantor secured the essential 2nd place, followed by Marta Maggetti. After her superb performance the day before, France's Hélène Noesmoen had a more average day but kept her main rivals at bay for a place in the medal race quarter-finals.

The youngest participant in this men's event (20 years old) but also one of the heaviest, Australian Grae Morris was both THE surprise and THE revelation of this event, with 3 new races in the top 10 on Thursday. First and guaranteed a medal, he upset all the predictions... Tom Reuveny and Josh Armit took advantage of this strange day to complete the top 3. With places of 22nd, 15th and 18th, Nicolas Goyard has definitely 'dropped out' and will not be in the medal race on Friday. Very involved in the Executive Committee since the creation of the iQFOiL class, the Frenchman has clearly never got over the 'emotional' often surprising, not to say sometimes aberrant, race decisions made by Race Management during the week... He is, above all, very keen to ensure that conditions are fair and equitable in competition.
On Friday, the medal races will decide the iQFOiL winners of these Paris 2024 Olympic Games, a final day that could still hold many surprises in store...

With feedback from the field (and our thanks!) from Valérie Boutet-Massonneau, executive secretary of the iQFOiL class, and Lucas Guiraud, long-time friend of Nicolas Goyard.

Reactions after day 5
Emma Wilson: ”It’s really cool to be guaranteed a medal for tomorrow. It’s the best we can get in this format so I’m really happy. I just took it race by race and believed in my training that I’ve done all year, for the last three years. Just to perform how I’ve done this week at the Olympics is pretty cool. I don’t approach tomorrow differently. I go have food and physio and come back tomorrow like I have all week.”
Grae Morris: “It’s super hard being at the top and staying at the top. It feels good now, but knowing that you have to pull off the next best thing tomorrow makes it a bit nerve-wracking, but it’s all honest work. I does ease my mind a little, knowing that I’ll be coming home with something in my hand, but I’m not fully satisified until it’s over and the gold medal is still in play and that won’t leave my mind tonight. It’s not about winning every race, it’s about being super accurate and staying in the top ten and minimising mistakes. It’s not about completely dominating, it’s about being a second in front at the finish, just like running.”

Source: World Sailing - FFVoile
Photos: Sailing Energy/iQFOiL Class