Super sailor Matt Wearn’s medal race in Marseille has been frustratingly abandoned when he was minutes from successfully defending his Olympic title.
The Australian was set to collect his second gold medal in the men’s dinghy event on Wednesday when the race was called off with just one leg left to complete due to shifting wind.
Wearn was looking to extend Australia’s golden run in the class, taking out the title for the fourth consecutive Olympics with his two medals following Tom Burton in Rio 2016 while Tom Slingsby triumphed at London 2012.
The 28-year-old West Australian was out to become the first ever back-to-back Olympic champion in the event.
Heading into the medal race, Wearn’s 14 -point lead meant had already locked up a silver medal and could only be overtaken by Pavlos Kontides.
However, in the restart following a general recall, the Cypriot sailor’s ambitions of challenging Wearn were all but ruined at the start.
He picked up a penalty and had to carry out a 360 degree turn, which left him at the back of the fleet.
Wearn started well but decided to play it safe in the congested water and not challenge for the lead but just keep ahead of Kontides.
In the scramble in the light winds it paid off with race leader Hungarian Jonatan Vadnai capsizing.
With Wearn sitting comfortably in fifth place and just one leg and a reach to go, the flag came out to signal the race had been abandoned.
Already delayed from the original start time on Tuesday, it was unclear if the medal race would be rescheduled for later Wednesday, or be run on Thursday.
In the women’s dinghy which was successfully completed, Marit Bouwmeester of the Netherlands won gold, marking the fourth straight Games in which she has reached the podium.
Source Agencies
