By World Sailing
Marit Bouwmeester finally got her hands on gold following the completion of the Women’s Dinghy Medal Race.
The Dutch sailor had already wrapped up the gold medal, after finishing in the top five on seven occasions during the Opening Series, but persistent light wind meant she had to wait an extra day before getting her long-awaited prize.
By winning gold, Bouwmeester became the most successful female Olympic sailor ever, overtaking Great Britain’s two-time Olympic champion Hannah Mills in the process.
Bouwmeester crossed the line in fourth in the Medal Race after wrapping up the top spot in quick time, meaning she has now won two golds in Paris and Rio, a silver in London and a bronze in Tokyo.
Anne-Marie Rindom was unable to defend her Olympic title from Tokyo, but settled for a super silver which she also had wrapped up prior to the Medal Race, in which she finished fifth.
The only medal up for grabs heading into the Medal Race was the bronze and it was Line Flem Hoest’s to lose. The Norwegian went into the finale sitting in third and held on to that spot, crossing the finish line in second behind Italy’s Chiara Benini Floriani to take home a bronze medal.
Bouwmeester said: “In the build-up to the Medal Race I tried to stay focused, but I’m also a mum as well so I had to be there for Jessie Mae. I’ve been with her a lot, putting her to bed and being there when she wakes up. It’s nice to finally finish it off, it hasn’t sunk in yet.
“I think sometimes at the Olympics you can get too serious too quickly, so it’s nice to have a distraction with Jessie Mae. Then you also have the lack of sleep and the loss of energy, but I’m grateful to be a mum and an athlete.
“I have so much respect for Line and Anne-Marie, we push each other all the way. There’s a mutual respect between us.”
Rindom said: “It’s huge just to get to an Olympic Games so to secure a medal is amazing. It’s really hard to perform at an Olympics and it’s been nerve-wracking, but I kept fighting right to the end. I don’t think this was my last race.”
Line Flem Hoest said: “My plan was to have a good start and go off my speed. I managed to reel it back in and get my speed up. I thought the left looked good before the start and only started thinking about my competitors after the first mark.
“You never know what can happen in a race so I tried to keep it cool and stay where I thought it would be best and on the last downwind I saw it was going to go my way and that was amazing.”
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