Paris 2024 Day 13: Five Things We Learned

Caterina’s warpaint With the black warpaint beneath each eye, Mixed Multihull Olympic Champion Caterina Banti’s already formidable aura becomes even more formidable. But it’s not to make the Italian Nacra 17 sailor look scary. “It’s because I can’t wear sunglasses when I’m racing, I don’t like them. The black marks are there to help reduce […]
Caterina’s warpaint

With the black warpaint beneath each eye, Mixed Multihull Olympic Champion Caterina Banti’s already formidable aura becomes even more formidable. But it’s not to make the Italian Nacra 17 sailor look scary. “It’s because I can’t wear sunglasses when I’m racing, I don’t like them. The black marks are there to help reduce the glare from the sun and the water.”

Kiteboarding was worth the wait

We’ve been waiting all week to see the spectacle of kiteboarding on TV, and wow did it deliver today! The four-rider semi-finals and finals brought so much drama, crashes and some photo finishes where no one knew who’d won until they were told by their coaches.

Smaller can be faster

Ellie Aldridge gambled on a smaller kite size (15 square metres) in her bid to beat her more powerful rival, France’s Lauriane Nolot, who was working with the 21 square metre. The gamble paid off, as Aldridge secured Great Britain’s only gold medal of the Paris 2024 sailing competition.

Saved by the bell

After blasting his way out of the Men’s Kiteboarding semi-final into the final where he then won the opening heat, the Austrian snowman Valentin Bontus was cool as a cucumber but his board was on fire with the speed he was displaying on the race course. However, with then with less than two minutes on the countdown before the start of the next heat of the final, the Austrian’s kite collapsed and fluttered into the water. The wind was rapidly disappearing and fortunately for the Austrian the race was cancelled and postponed until Friday, the very last opportunity to complete the competition.

Southern Hemisphere success in Nacra

After Stefano Peschiera’s bronze medal for Peru the previous day, the South American success continued today with Matteo Majdalani and Eugenia Bosco’s silver medal in the Nacra 17 catamaran. Yet more southern hemisphere success with Micah Wilkinson and Erica Dawson’s multihull bronze for New Zealand.