Olympic sailors had a whirlwind experience in a series of events on Thursday.
The men’s and women’s skiff finals, also known as 49erFX, were officially called off after the men failed twice due to insufficient wind off the coast of Marseille during the Paris event.
“It was beautiful when the men went out on the water in front of the crowd and in fantastic sailing conditions, but unfortunately the wind has died down so we have to accept it,” said Annett Duets of the Dutch women’s team. Reuters reported..
Spain’s Diego Botín and Florian Tritter, ranked first in the medal race, jumped out to an early lead in the inaugural regatta.
But when the gusts of wind they had been holding on to subsided, the race took a sudden turn.
“We always knew this day would come,” Botín said. According to the Associated Press“We’re always trying to refocus on what’s next.”
The three-time Olympian added that he and his teammates were focused on “not wasting too much emotional energy” during the long wait.
All the swimmers waited in the water for hours, enduring the scorching heat and scorching sun, clinging to a ray of hope.
The women, who never took off, waited in a marina in Marseille.
Temperatures approached 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit), according to the Associated Press.
After enduring the scorching sun, the athletes took to the starting line for the second time.
Bert Lambrix and Floris van de Velken of the Netherlands got off to a good start but unfortunately for the Dutch duo it wasn’t long before the race officials waved the flag.
“The wind was moving further and further away from the coast. The race committee tried to follow the wind but every time we tried to race the wind just disappeared,” said Dominik Buczak of Poland.
“It’s a rollercoaster of emotions. We came so close but now we’ve moved on and are looking forward to tomorrow,” said Isaac McHardie of New Zealand, who finished third in the medal race.
Both races were postponed to Friday.
