Nia Jerwood and Conor Nicholas (Mixed Dinghy) and Breiana Whitehead (Women’s Kite) have both wrapped up their Olympic campaigns in ninth position after their final races in Marseille today.
Peth’s Jerwood and Nicholas showed they could mix it with the very best throughout the week, and if it weren’t for a disqualification in the second race due to breaking the start line and another race abandoned with the Aussies in a strong position it could have been a very different story.
“That medal race probably showed what our campaign has been like,” said Jerwood.
“It hasn’t always been perfect, but when things do go wrong, we fight back really hard and make it work so I’m really proud of that.”
The story of the week in Marseille was the light breeze and so it was again today, but the duo navigated the course beautifully to finish the Medal Race in sixth place.
“We’re really proud of how we sailed all week,” said Nicholas.
“We’ve had our little ups and downs, but there’s been more ups than downs. It makes us hungry now, we’ve seen what it’s like watching others win medals and we want that.”
The Kites made their debut in Paris, but they have had a tough run with the wind in Marseille this week. They were able to just complete a qualifying series with the minimum six races run in order to advance to a final series.
Australia’s Breiana Whitehead qualified for the Women’s Semi Final in seventh place, which put her in a challenging position, locked in a loaded Semi Final which was quickly won by six-time Formula Kite World Champion Daniela Moroz from the USA.
“Definitely a mix of emotions,” said Whitehead after her maiden Olympic campaign. “So happy to be in the top ten but a little bit gutted by the race. It happens and its sudden death so you’re in it or you’re not.
“I think it’s going to take a while to calm down and chill out. It was definitely one of the toughest races I’ve had.”
The future is bright for Australian Olympic sailing, with the Paris regatta netting one gold medal, one silver medal and three other top ten finishes from a relatively young and inexperienced team. Only Matt Wearn (Men’s Dinghy), Olivia Price (Women’s Skiff) and Nia Jerwood having been to an Olympics before.
“I am extremely proud not only of the performances on the water but also in the way the team conducted themselves throughout their entire campaigns,” said Australian Olympic Sailing Team Leader, Iain Brambell.
“For now, we will celebrate the performances of the team, but also get straight back to work building our national squad towards more success at LA 2028 and of course a home Olympic Games at Brisbane 2032.”
Paris 2024 Olympic Regatta results
Men’s Dinghy (43 entries)
1st: Matt Wearn (AUS) 12, 2, 1, (18), 1, 2, 10, 10, 2 MR – 40 points – GOLD MEDAL
2nd: Pavlos Kontides (CYP) 17, 5, (27), 5, 10, 5, 3, 7, 4 MR – 56 points
3rd: Stefano Peschiera (PER) 6, 1, 14, 11, (20), 14, 12, 4, 18 MR – 80 points
Men’s Windsurfer (24 entries)
1st: Tom Reuveny (ISR) 1 GF
2nd: Grae Morris (AUS) 2 GF – SILVER MEDAL
3rd: Luc Van Opzeeland (NED) 3 GF
Women’s Kite (20 entries)
1st: Eleanor Aldridge (GBR) – 1 GF
2nd: Lauriane Nolot (FRA) 2 – GF
3rd: Daniela Moroz (USA) 3 – GF
9th: Breiana Whitehead (AUS) 4 – SF
Mixed Dinghy (19 entries)
1st: Lara Vadlau & Lukas Maehr (AUT) (20 BFD), 5, 3, 1, 7, 1, 5, 2, 14 MR – 38 points
2nd: Keiju Okada & Miho Yoshioka (JPN) 1, 2, 2, 6, (14), 12, 9, 3, 6 MR – 41 points
3rd: Anton Dahlberg & Lovisa Karlsson (SWE) 7, (14), 1, 2, 1, 13, 11, 4, 8MR – 47 points
9th: Nia Jerwood & Conor Nicholas (AUS) 6, (20 UFD), 7, 7, 3, 16, 8, 15, 12 MR – 74 points
Women’s Skiff (20 entries)
1st: Odile Van Aanholt & Annette Duetz (NED) 5, 1, 1, 10, 8, 5, (19), 3, 2, 15, 4, 14, 6 MR – 74 points
2nd: Vilma Bobeck & Rebecca Netzler (SWE) 14, 6, 15, 4, 15, 10, 2, 1, 5, 1, 1, (17), 2 MR – 76 pts
3rd: Sarah Steyaert & Charline Picon (FRA) 2, 2, 2, 8, 2, 2, 12, 11, 10, (18), 6, 10, 12 MR – 79 pts
9th: Olivia Price & Evie Haseldine (AUS) 6, 8, 16, 7, 11, 3, (20), 10, 9, 10, 10, 12, 18 MR – 120 pts
Mixed Multihull (19 entries)
1st: Ruggero Tita & Caterina Banti (ITA) 1, 1 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 6, 6, (20 UFD), 5, 2, 4 MR – 51 points
2nd: Mateo Majdalani & Eugenia Bosco (ARG) 2, 2, 5, (10), 6, 6, 3, 2, 2, 1, 2, (12), 14 MR – 67 points
3rd: Micah Wilkinson & Erica Dawson (NZL) 5, 3, 7, 2, 2, 3, 2, 4, 9, (17), 3, 7, 16 MR – 80 points
13th: Brin Liddell & Rhiannan Brown (AUS) 11, 11, 13, 13, 12, 7, 9, 12, 13, 6, 14, (17) – 121 points
Men’s Skiff (20 entries)
1st: Diego Botin Le Chever & Florian Trittel Paul (ESP) (16), 6, 4, 5, 11, 2, 3, 2, 2, 15, 12, 6, 2 MR – 70 pts
2nd: Isaac Kale McHardie & William McKenzie (NZL) 1, 3, 8, 8, 1, 1, 11, (18), 17, 1, 10, 15, 6 MR – 82 pts
3rd: Ian Barrows & Hans Henken (USA) 8, 7, (17), 9, 9, 5, 10, 7, 3, 2, 8, 12, MR 8 – 88 points
15th: Jim Colley & Shaun Connor (AUS) 19, 17, 10, 14, 10, 9, 12, 3, 10, 3, 16, (20) – 123 pts
Women’s Dinghy (43 entries)
1st: Marit Bouwmeester (NED) 4, 1, 2, 4, 2, 3, 3 11, (20), 8 MR – 38 points
2nd: Anne-Marie Rindom (DEN) 7, (26), 7, 2, 8, 4, 15, 4, 4, 10 MR – 61 points
3rd: Line Flem Hoest (NOR) 11, 3, (19), 7, 2, 12, 14, 3, 4 MR – 75 points
20th: Zoe Thomson (AUS) 12, (37), 22, 11, 16, 6, 19, 35, 15 – 136 points
Visit the Australian Sailing Team website for more information or see full results here.
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