Matt Wearn has continued Australia’s legacy of success in the Laser class at the Olympic Games, with the Western Australian assuring Australia’s third straight gold medal in the class.
The likeable sailor from Perth has an insurmountable 22-point lead after the final two races of the 10-race qualifying series ended today. Wearn will officially race for Gold in the Medal Race this Sunday, but just needs to show every endeavour to start and finish the race to take the crown.
“I’m just over the moon,” Wearn said as he came ashore. “It seems a bit surreal right about now. There are still two days left of our competition, including the Medal Race, so to do it before that and have it signed, sealed and delivered is all you can ask for really.”
Wearn has done it the hard way, passing up on a potential AFL career and moving from Perth to Sydney at a young age to chase his dream of Olympic Gold. He started the Games with two poor results but fought his way back and is tonight pinching himself.
“It was a tough day of racing, but I am happy to finish off with that. And yeah, I’m going to be a gold medallist,” a thrilled Wearn said.
Perth will be celebrating tonight with the Laser sailor’s home clubs (Fremantle Sailing Club and Royal Perth Yacht Club) and family members among those raising a glass.
“I am still processing it myself,” said Matt’s dad, Brad Wearn after the final race. “It’s Matt’s destiny. This has been his goal since he was knee-high to a grasshopper. We are just so proud of him; he’s pushed himself so hard and has been surrounded by great people along the way.”
Wearn won’t be able to celebrate with family tonight. and making things more difficult are the COVID protocols that will prevent him from celebrating with fiancé, Emma Plasschaert, who is competing in the Laser Radial for Belgium at these Games.
“We haven’t been able to see each other much over the past six months, or even whilst we’ve been here with the COVID measures. But knowing that she’s been here for the whole time has been really special,” Wearn finished.
Wearn’s result cements his reputation as the world’s best Laser sailor – he already has two European Championship titles in the class and on Sunday he will add an Olympic gold medal to that collection.
Channel Seven will broadcast Matt’s Medal Race, which is scheduled to commence at 1:30PM AEST this Sunday.
Elsewhere in Enoshima today, Mat Belcher and Will Ryan extended their lead in the Men’s 470 class, posting a fourth and a third in their two races today. They have a rest day tomorrow (Saturday) before returning for their final four preliminary races on Sunday and Monday ahead of a potential Medal Race on Wednesday.
The sailing component of the Olympic Games continues tomorrow with action in the Finn (two races), 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 (three races each).
Tokyo 2020 Olympic Regatta standings:
49er (19 boats)
1st: Dylan Fletcher-Scott & Stuart Bithell (GBR) 2, 8, 4, 1, 12, 2, 2, (16), 3 – 34 pts
2nd: Peter Burling & Blair Tuke (NZL) (12), 3, 7, 2, 10, 1, 3, 6, 2 – 34 pts
3rd: Diego Botin & Iago Lopez Marra (ESP) 5, 1, 2, 5, 4, 10, (15), 2, 6 – 39 pts
3rd: Jonas Warrer & Jakob Precht Jensen (DEN) 6, 5, 10, 3, 1, 4, 6, 4, (15) – 39 pts
11th: Will Phillips & Sam Phillips (AUS) 7, 4, 1, 8, 11, 15, 16, (UFD), 19 – 81 pts
49erFX (21 boats)
1st: Annemiek Bekkering & Annette Duetz (NED) (13), 8, 2, 1, 6, 1, 12, 5, 6 – 41 pts
2nd: Tamara Echegoyen & Paula Martin (ESP) 2, 10, (22 UFD), 2, 3, 3, 13, 4, 5 – 42 pts
3rd: Martine Grael & Kahena Kunze (BRA) – (15), 5, 1, 10, 7, 6, 1, 6, 11 – 47 pts
14th: Tess Lloyd & Jaime Ryan (AUS) 9, 11, 7, 9, 11, 10, 15, 11, (20) – 83 pts
Finn (19 boats)
1st: Giles Scott (GBR) (9), 9, 1, 1, 1, 1 – 13 pts
2nd: Joan Cardona (ESP) 3, 3, (5) 3, 2, 3 – 14 pts
3rd: Zsombor Berecz (HUN) 2, 2, (9), 4, 6, 7 – 21 pts
8th: Jake Lilley (AUS) 10, 8, 4, (11), 7, 9 – 38pts
Laser (35 boats)
1st: Matt Wearn (AUS) 17, (28), 2, 4, 2, 2, 1, 1, 12, 8 – 49 pts
2nd: Hermann Tomasgaard (NOR) 3, (18), 15, 2, 6, 8, 10, 5, (19), 4 – 71 pts
3rd: Tonci Stipanovic (CRO) 15, 6, 3, (22), 13, 4, 5, 11, 7, 10 – 74 pts
Laser Radial (44 boats)
1st: Anne-Marie Rindom (DEN) 6, 5, 3, (13), 4, 4, 2, 1, 26, (DNF) – 64 pts
2nd: Marit Bouwmeester (NED) 21, 14, 7, 2, 3, 9, (BFD), 7, 1, 7 – 71 pts
3rd: Josefin Olsson (SWE) (34), 15, 8, 4, 1, 6, 4, 9, 22, 10 – 79 pts
14th: Mara Stransky (AUS) 12, 26, 19, 10, 19, 16, (BFD), 24, 3, 1 – 130 pts
Men’s 470 (19 boats)
1st: Mat Belcher & Will Ryan (AUS) 2, (5), 1, 1, 4, 3 – 11 pts
2nd: Luke Patience & Chris Grube (GBR) 3, 8, 2, 4, (10), 5 – 22 pts
3rd: Paul Snow-Hansen & Dan Willcox (NZL) 6, 2, (7), 7, 5, 7 – 27 pts
Women’s 470 (21 boats)
1st: Agnieszka Skrzypulec & Jolanta Ogar (POL) 1, 1, 2, 5, (13), 1 – 10 pts
2nd: Hannah Mills & Eilidh McIntyre (GBR) 4, 3, (7), 1, 3, 3 – 14 pts
3rd: Camille Lecointre & Aloise Retornaz (FRA) 3, 2, 4, 7, 1, (12) – 17 pts
15th: Nia Jerwood & Monique de Vries (AUS) 7, 12, 12, 8, (19), 19 – 58 pts
Nacra 17 (20 boats)
1st: Ruggero Tita & Caterina Banti (ITA) 1, 3, 1, 2, (5), 1 – 8 pts
2nd: John Gimson & Anna Burnet (GBR) (7), 5, 2, 1, 1, 2 – 11 pts
3rd: Paul Kohlhoff & Alicia Stuhlemmer (GER) 5, 1, 7, 3, 3, (11) – 19 pts
5th: Jason Waterhouse & Lisa Darmanin (AUS) 2, (11), 4, 4, 7, 8 – 25 pts
You can follow live tracking of the races on the Australian Sailing Team website: https://www.australiansailingteam.com.au/olympics/live-tracking/
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Michael Martin/Australian Sailing
