Sailing Olympics, they risk throwing away the gold for an unbelievable mistake. Chills.

There are three beautiful stories behind the just-concluded 49er FX (women’s double skiff) Medal Race that awarded the first medals at the Marseille Sailing Olympics.
We tell them to you, because they deserve it.

The Dutch and the gold almost thrown away because of a beginner’s mistake

The first story is almost unbelievable: it concerns Odile Van Aanholt and Annette Duetz and how they almost threw away the gold medal because of an unexpected mistake for an Olympic summit crew.
Probably – we speculate – dictated by not reading the regatta instructions properly.

But sensationally, the Dutch, who were leading the final, after correctly leaving the 4P buoy to the left, head for the starting line, cut it off believing they have won and have gold already in their pockets. Behind them the Americans, who were second, make the same mistake, and unlike the Dutch (this will save the oranges) they lower the gennaker and go against the wind. Meanwhile, the chasing boat train, led by Swedes Vilma Bobeck and Rebecca Metzler who were direct opponents of Van Aanholt-Duetz, turns the 4P buoy correctly, heats up and heads for the finish line and goes to cut.
The Swedes say thank you and win the race. Panic! The two girls do not know what to do and resume sailing toward the finish line, they can save themselves only if they come in third. They start a race against time, desperate, with the gennaker capped to iron, “splinting.”
They make it by a hair’s breadth and behind the Italians, managing to keep the gold by only two points!

Jana and Giorgia, good first one

The second nice story is that of our Jana Germani and Giorgia Bertuzzi, whose second place Medal finish ends their first Olympics in fifth place.
It was too much to hope for a medal, the math was prohibitive and it would have taken a miracle-worthy alignment of stars to get them to the podium.

The two race champion moms.

The last story that this Medal Race returns to us, we don’t want the aforementioned Swedes who took silver, is the third place of the home athletes, French women Sarah Steyaert and Charline Picon, veterans and mothers of three.

Finally that lifelong dreamed medal, in another class.
A bronze that is worth a gold. Will this be his last Olympic appearance? A son, on the other hand, for Picon, 39. To the most observant of you, Charline’s name will not be new: on her palmares is an Olympic gold medal in sailing, but on boards.
She won the gold medal in RS:X (which have now been replaced by iQFOiL flying boards) at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, as well as the world title in 2014 and European titles in 2013, 2014, and 2016.
Who knows if eight years ago she would have ever thought she would end up as a bowwoman and still win a medal?
Talent never dies.
These are the hot stories from the first medal race.
We will review day number 6 of the Olympics in sailing in the usual end-of-day article.
See you later.

How to follow the sailing Olympics live

You can follow the Sailing Olympics “live” if you have a subscription to Discovery Plus: RAI and other pay channels will broadcast any medal races if there are real medal chances.
Tofind out everything about the schedule, we recommend you check the official World Sailing schedule while to be updated on the results in real time at this link all the rankings. There is also a dedicated page on the Sport Sailing website, Where to follow live race tracking.

• Azzurri at the Olympics: who are the Italians in the hunt for medals
• Everything you need to know about the Olympic classes competing in Marseille

Olympics, how regattas work

Depending on the classes competing(everything you need to know about the classes here), athletes competing in the Marseille Olympics must race for 4, 5 or 6 days.
Each regatta lasts between 15 and 50 minutes depending on the type of boat. In the case of dinghies, skiffs and catamarans (470, ILCA, Nacra 17, 49er and 49er FX) athletes are awarded points equal to their placing in their respective races.
The first is awarded one point, the second two points, and so on.
At the end of the first 4-5 days of racing, the games are “almost done.”
The top 10 ranked crews participate in the very final, called the Medal Race.
Here the rules change, because the points won are worth double: the first gets 2 points, the second 4, and so on.
If you get to the Medal Race with the “short” ranking, this last round is decisive.
In the end, the podium is composed of the athletes/crew with the lowest total number of points. The racing format is different for iQFOil boards and Formula Kite.
In the boards, there are four days of competition and the spots will be different from day to day.
Athletes must alternate between conventional courses, slalom and endurance trials.
In the latter, the points won count double.
The final day is decisive and very intense.
The quarterfinals are reserved for athletes so far ranked from fourth to tenth.
The top two from this “playoff” are selected for the semifinals, which are played in a four-way tie, along with the second and third overall.
The very final is between the top two finishers of the semifinal and the leader of the overall ranking.
The podium is already known before going into the water, only the color of each athlete’s medal to be determined. On the Kites, on the other hand, after four days of racing, the top 10 qualify for the Medal Race.
From then on, only the third through 10th place finishers race in the first phase of the Medal.
The top two from this phase then join the first and second overall for the final four.
In the final, each individual race win is worth one point.
The first to reach 3 points wins the gold medal. edited by Eugenio Ruocco