The final day of the Nacra 17 event at the Paris 2024 Olympics took place earlier today in extremely light winds, one day later than scheduled due to lack of breeze. Going into the medal race, there were only four medal contenders. Italy's Ruggero Tita & Catherina Banti, who held a solid 14-point lead over Mateo Majdalani & Eugenia Bosco (ARG). Behind them by 6 points, Gimson-Burnet (GBR) and New Zealand's Wilkinson-Dawson were tied, both vying for silver. Argentina was the only team that still had a chance to snatch gold from the dominant Italian pair.
The conditions on the day of the medal were tricky for all sailors but France's Mourniac-Berthomieu took the lead, followed by Tita & Banti (ITA). Despite the challenging 4-5 knot winds, the Italians had no trouble securing gold. Meanwhile, the Argentine team gambled on the right side of the course during the first downwind leg after a late start and a 360-degree penalty. They caught up with the Kiwis at the gate and sailed alongside them to the second windward mark, but by then, the race for silver was already decided.
While this race wasn’t as exciting as the previous 12 we followed this week, it still determined the Olympic podium. Italy's Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti in first, Argentina's Mateo Majdalani and Eugenia Bosco, followed by New Zealand's Micah Wilkinson and Erica Dawson.
What a fantastic achievement on their first Olympic attempt for Mateo Majdalani & Eugenia Bosco. Looking back at the 2020 Olympics, where they were denied formal qualification to walking away with Silver!
It was a tough day in the office for Team GBR as they missed out on the fight for the podium because they were over the line at the start. Unlike the Argentinians and Finnish, the British did not go back and as a result, they were taken out of contention by the jury.
Full results here.