Double or nothing

04/08/2024

In a medal format that remains as cruel as ever, Italy's Marta Maggetti and Israel's Tom Reuveny won gold in Saturday's iQFOiL event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. England's Emma Wilson, winner of 8 of the 14 races contested during the week, finished 3rd...

Often capricious during the week, and even forcing the postponement of the medal races on Friday, the wind is very much with us this Saturday in Marseille, with a Mistral between 14 and 22 knots. And after 14 races for the women and 13 for the men, the competitors are starting from almost zero, with only the leaders guaranteed a medal. Race Management has opted for a short Course Racing format, with a single upwind leg and a wind whose angle sometimes varies by just a few degrees. Variations which will play cruel tricks on some, while smiling on the opportunists or the luckiest.

In the women's quarter-final, Peruvian Maria Belen and China's Zheng Yan tried the starboard option and regained the lead, while France's Hélène Noesmoen and Germany's Theresa Marie Steinlein were in the lead. And it was Italy's Nicolo Renna, despite being European champion and reigning world champion, who paid the price a few minutes later in the men's race. With no surprises this time, the semi-finals saw Sharon Kantor and Marta Maggetti join Emma Wilson in the final, while in the men's race, Israeli Tom Reuveny and Dutchman Luuc van Opzeeland won their final ticket with Grae Morris.
Ultra-dominant over the last 2 seasons, but as we also know, often febrile in medal races, Emma Wilson led the race but just missed the windward mark and was overtaken by Maggetti and Kantor. Totally crestfallen, the Englishwoman had the bitter experience of dominating the competition all week, only to walk away with the bronze medal, the same one she won in Tokyo in 2021...

In the men's race, after a fierce battle between the 3 men, Tom Reuveny took the starboard option on the upwind leg and won the gold medal, even though he was only an outsider at the start of the week. Although he didn't win a single race all week, he was always well placed and was able to stay focused right to the end to be there on the big day, supported by an entire country. Grae Morris was rewarded for his week with a fine 2nd place, while Luuc van Opzeeland, who had already given his all in the quarter-final and semi-final, took 3rd place, the man many saw as one of the big favourites alongside Nicolas Goyard...
This iQFOiL event at the Paris Olympic Games has come to an end, reminding us that this competition has no equal and that the cards can be completely reshuffled in the space of a week. With the added bonus of a medal race format that is still not unanimously supported...

Reactions after day 7
Marta Maggetti: “I’m so happy. I wasn’t stressed today. After I finished the Semi-Final I cried a bit, but then I focused and told myself I wanted the gold. In the first lap I was close, but in third, I tacked for the mark before Emma and Sharon, so I did less distance on the race course. There was no public in Tokyo, no crowd, so the atmosphere here is different and it’s so nice.”
Tom Reuveny: “I have so many emotions. I’ve put in so many years of hard work and I had the perfect Medal Race. I only had to win one race in this event and I won the most important one. I knew I had to get a good start as Luuc and Grae are super-fast. I used what I learnt throughout the years and all the medal races that I’ve lost to make this one into a win.”

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