O'Leary and Milne, for some the wildcard medal (or at least top ten) hopes in the squad, posted an 8-11-12 score tally in today's three races, leaving them 13th overall and out of the medal race, which means the results for Team Ireland are as follows (by finishing order):
- Finn Tim Goodbody 21st
- 470 Owens/Lawton 16th
- Laser Radial Ciara Peelo 20th
- Star O'Leary/Milne 13th
The debrief, one expects, will ask questions about the goal of a single top eight finish, set by the ISA ahead of the games.
Peelo's 13th was the closest to that, Owens/Lawton offered early promise with their race wins, but ultimately, no-one could break into the medal race zone of being in the top ten overall with one race remaining.
No doubt that heads will shake at ISA HQ, but no-one was under any illusions going into this regatta - Qingdao was always going to be tough. The venue, however, is an easy scapegoat. Sure it was light, tidal, and flukey, but consistency was there if you looked for it, and the big names still managed to rise to the top in every fleet.
The irrepressible Ainslie struck gold yet again in the Finn class, Aussie 470 maestros Wilmot and Page did just as they said they would, taking the 470 medal. Croatian Laser sailor Vasilij Zgobar improved on his bronze in Athens with a silver in Qingdao, and the top three in the Star going into the medal race (Loof/Percy/Scheidt) all have Olympic medals already.
So it was a tough crowd, and Ireland, in their midst, failed to make their gains stick. Save two stunning bullets from our 470 pairing (which attracted some sniping criticism), and a handful of individual top ten finishes from the Star and Laser Radial, most of the time was spent finishing in the teens and twenties, despite good early roundings in many races.
The results are as they are, but there should be no headlong rush to criticise the sailors.
It's true that the goals remain unfulfilled, and that the overall tally is somewhat disappointing. But to hurriedly do down the sailors based on their overall results is to discredit several years of relentless effort put in (eight solid years of campaigning in the case of Ger Owens) and gloss over the fact that the squad have committed themselves to being among the best in sailing, sacrificing social lives, food and the spare time most of us take for granted just to get there and take part.
If you've dodged the boss to tune in online and watch the racing, or hit the red button on Sky to catch it live, their years of campaigning gave you a reason to get excited, it gave you someone to follow at the Olympics, and something to chat about at the watercooler. They provided us with ten days of national interest and a few headlines, and helped drive sailing to the top of the Irish Olympic agenda for once. For that, they deserve better than knee-jerk criticism. They deserve our thanks and our respect.
