Matt Wearn defended his Olympic title with a well-executed sail in the Men’s Dinghy Medal Race at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The reigning champion went into the race carrying a 14-point advantage, knowing Cyprus’ Pavlos Kontides was the only sailor who could overtake him.
Finn Lynch (National Yacht Club) placed tenth overall after his eighth place in the medal race final. In terms of Irish achievements, this result eclipses Mark Lyttle's 11th overall from Atlanta 1996, when the ILCA 7, then Laser, made its Olympic debut.
The Irish sailor went out to deliver his best result in the Men's one-person dinghy and was soon leading the medal race final. But the light breeze that has caused many scheduling delays all week, including the loss of the last two fleet series races in Lynch's event, acted up once again; the race was abandoned.
Finn Lynch (National Yacht Club) placed tenth overall after his eighth place in the medal race final at the Paris 2024 Olympics Photo: Sander van der Borch
"It was a cool experience to lead the medal race, even if it was only until they abandoned it after there was a 40-degree wind shift,” said Lynch after the racing ended. I just needed to refocus and get a good start, which I did, but there weren't too many options to pass out the leaders."
Lynch has confirmed he intends to campaign for Los Angeles 2028.
At first Wearn attempted to match race the Cypriot sailor, until the opening attempt at the Medal Race was abandoned. In the second instalment, the fleet leader decided to go all out and stormed to victory in the crucial race to clinch gold in Marseille.
The result means Australia have now won the last four Men’s Dinghy Olympic gold medals, beginning with Tom Slingsby in London, and continuing with Tom Burton in Rio and Wearn in Tokyo and Paris.
Kontides, appearing in his fifth Olympic Games, recreated the magic of London 2012 – where he picked up a silver medal – crossing the finish line right behind Wearn to take another Olympic silver.
Completing the top three was Peru’s Stefano Peschiera who, despite finishing ninth in the Medal Race, managed to hold on to take home a famous bronze which is Peru’s first Olympic medal in 32 years.
Wearn said: “The last three years have been an up and down ride, but we kept ticking boxes. It was a matter of executing this week and we did that.
“It’s been quite hard to deal with the waiting at times, luckily we didn’t have to wait for another day and now we can celebrate and have some fun. My parents have helped me all the way. There have been times when I haven’t enjoyed the sport as much, but they’ve really helped, they’re incredible parents.
“The expectation has been tougher this time, being the reigning champion and winning the last two World Championships. I had that target on my back and that was new and different.”
Kontides said: “I’m over the moon, I had tears of joy sailing back to the shore. And then I was with my wife, my family, my friends who were supporting me. A second Olympic medal for my country and it came from myself.”
Peschiera said: “It’s hard to describe how this feels. It took a lot of hard work and it came out positively throughout the week and finally closing out the chapter is such a relief, after such a tough race.
“I try to be a perfectionist so I’m never going to celebrate until I know that that’s my medal so I think that’s what got me here. I wanted to ask my coach and when he confirmed it, I had a roller coaster of emotions.”
Results are here
