Skiff (49er), Men

The skiff 49er has been the choice of the International Sailing Federation to be the men’s high performance double-handed dinghy at the Olympics since Sydney 2000. The 2024 Olympic regatta consisted of 40 entrants from 20 countries taking part in an opening series of up to 12 races spread over five days, with the 10 best going through to a medal race, where double points were awarded and added to the opening series scores to establish final positions.

The Nos. 1 and 2 ranked crews from Spain and the Netherlands were favorites for the 2024 skiff gold medal. The Spanish pair of Diego Botín and Florián Trittel had finished in the medals at each of the last three World Championships (one silver and two bronzes) and topped the world rankings. Botín was appearing in his third Olympics, and just missed a medal after finishing fourth with Iago López at Tokyo 2020. The other serious contenders for the gold medal were the No. 2 ranked Netherlands duo of Bart Lambriex and Floris van de Werken, who were the World Championship runners-up in 2024, having won the title in each of the three previous years. They also went to the Games as runners-up in the European Championships.

The reigning World champions, Erwan Fischer and Clément Péquin of France, were considered potential medal winners despite going to Marseille ranked just 18th in the world. Another crew capable of getting into the medals was the Swiss pair of Sébastien Schneiter and Arno de Planta. Ranked No. 3, they were runners-up in both the 2023 World and 2024 European Championships. Also with an outside chance of a medal were Britain’s reigning European Champions James Peters and Fynn Sterritt, despite being ranked a lowly 28th.

The young New Zealanders Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie started the regatta off with a win and third place in the first two races, and led at the end of the first day by one point from the Ireland crew of Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove, who went to the top of the leaderboard after race four and stayed there until a disqualification at the end of the second day’s racing, which saw New Zealand regain first place. As the conditions got tougher, it suited the Spaniards, as they became the new leaders after race eight, but lost it to New Zealand in the penultimate race, as Ireland dropped out of the medal places and were replaced by the US pair of Ian Barrows and Hans Henken. The Irish were back into a medal position, however, after finishing second overall after the 12th and last race of the opening series, which was won by Spain, with New Zealand, hoping to win their fourth successive Olympic skiff medal, in third place.

Going into the medal race, any one of the leading seven could have won gold in what was one of the closest sailing events of the 2024 Games. After two aborted races, which had to be halted mid-race due to a lack of wind, the medal race eventually took place the next day. Sadly, the luck of the Irish ran out and they finished ninth, for fourth place overall. The skiff form book was at last proved right, however, as Spain won with the Netherlands second, but it was a case of “too little, too late” for Lambriex and van de Werken as they were classified eighth overall.

The Spaniards led from start to finish to win gold, with New Zealand second, and the USA getting back into a medal place to take bronze by just three points from Ireland. In an event that saw the unfancied crews come to the fore, New Zealand’s silver medalists McHardie and McKenzie had a world rank of 22nd at the time of the Games, while Barrows and Henken, the USA’s only sailing medalists in 2024, were ranked 26th, and fourth placed Dickson and Waddilove of Ireland were 25th. Spain’s gold medal was their 14th Olympic sailing gold but their first since 2012.