Sailing big loss for our Games
OLYMPIC gold medallist Nathan Outteridge says he will have little interest in watching April’s Gold Coast Commonwealth Games as sailing remains on the outer.
Not yet officially recognised as an optional sport on the Commonwealth Games program, sailing has been a medal winner for Australia at four of the past five Olympic Games.
Australia claimed two gold medals at Sydney in 2000 in the men’s and women’s 470 and another two in the same events at Beijing in 2008, before Outteridge and Iain Jensen led the charge in 2012.
They claimed gold in the 49ers at London, with Australia defending its men’s 470 title and Tom Slingsby winning the laser class.
Outteridge and Jensen then won silver in the 49ers at Rio de Janeiro in 2016 as Tom Burton claimed gold in the laser.
“You look back to the London Olympics and sailing won the most gold medals of any sport for Australia, so it does seem a little bit crazy if that’s our No. 1 sport in the country on an Olympic level, if you actually introduce it into the Commonwealth Games similar things will happen,” Outteridge said.
“Australia has a huge wealth of sailing experience and sailing is not just the Syd- ney to Hobart, there’s a more to it than that.”
Outteridge admitted he would find it difficult to follow the Games in April without his beloved sport in the program.
But while the beachside Queensland city prepares for the Games, Australia’s best sailors are instead travelling around Australia for the inaugural SuperFoiler Grand Prix.
Outteridge headlines a starstudded list of sailors competing in the series, having combined with Jensen and America’s Cup- winning skipper Glenn Ashby to make up Team Euroflex, in what’s been labelled the ‘ dream team’ of the six- boat series.
The team remains undefeated through 15 races ahead of the third regatta on the Gold Coast starting Friday. lot