Marseille is an oven. The wind has disappeared. There is hardly a breeze in La Marina and the boats are stuck in the water. The 10 boats competing in the decisive race, the Medal Race, in the 49er class twice start to try to sail the four sections that will decide the medals, and twice the judges send them back to the starting box, because the calm sea has planted them like statues. The Spanish couple of Diego Botín and Florian Trittel return to the port disappointed. They were close to gold, leaders of the general classification until this last race that only the 10 best couples contest and that counts double points. A third place would have been enough for them to win the gold medal. A sixth place would have guaranteed them a place on the podium.
The first suspension caught them with the situation under control, almost halfway through the race and with their pursuers on the board under surveillance after a very good start: Ireland five points behind, New Zealand six and the United States 12. But that’s sailing, whipped by the wind and wave conditions. It was 2:43 p.m. when the first shot was fired and the sailors held out for two hours until they could set sail again. This time Spain started further back, even dropping to seventh position in the Medal Race, but they made up ground, climbed positions, and in the middle of the climb the judges’ boat appeared again on the scene with the flag of suspension raised.
At 17:37 the organisers decided not to wait any longer and postponed the Medal Race until Friday. This is the first day of reserve, and in case the bad conditions are repeated, Saturday will be used as the second day to complete the Olympic event. Delays have been repeated for several days in Marseille, a venue 800 kilometres from Paris, but no day had been cancelled so far. After 12 races, Botín and Trittel were leading the general classification despite not scoring any victories, thanks to a consistency in their performances that included three second places, a third, a fourth, a fifth and two sixths.
Botín and Trittel, both 30 years old, are looking to add to the spoils of Spanish sailing, the sport that has brought the most medals (21) and the most golds (13) at the Olympic Games. After separate adventures, both joined forces to share this cycle in which they have been European champions and medallists in the three World Championships: silver in 2022 and bronze in 2023 and 2024. Now they are chasing an Olympic medal that Diego Botín narrowly missed in Tokyo, fourth in 49er alongside Iago López Marra after being tied with the third, the German boat, which won by finishing ahead in the Medal Race. The curse was about to be broken in Marseille when the wind stopped blowing and left a medal for Spain in the air.
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