‘Bitter pill’ for sailors
Kiwi sailors Paul Snow-Hansen and Dan Willcox finished a frustrating fourth in the men’s 470 class at the Tokyo Olympics.
The pair finished third in the medal race for the double-handed class at Enoshima yesterday, but that wasn’t good enough to gain enough points to get them on the podium in the final tally.
Australia’s Matt Belcher and Will Ryan had the gold as good as sewn up before the medal race, such was their domination of the 10-fleet races, and they carried that off with another impressive victory on the final day despite an ultra-conservative start.
Sweden took silver and Spain bronze, finishing just two points clear of the charging Kiwis.
The result means the talented New Zealand sailing team finishes with just one medal after defending champions Peter Burling and Blair Tuke won silver in the 49er skiff on Tuesday for their third Olympic medal in as many Games.
The Kiwi sailors had a goal of three medals in Japan following the record-equalling haul of four in Rio five years ago.
For Snow-Hansen and Willcox, these Olympics represented their last campaign together after nine years at each other’s sides. The 470 class is being turned into a mixed gender class for the 2024 Games.
‘‘It’s the end of an era for the men’s 470, and we went out swinging, we are proud of the way we fought in that medal Willcox said.
‘‘But a bitter pill to swallow, not quite getting over the line how we wanted to.’’
Added Snow-Hansen: ‘‘Two points in it . . . close but no cigar!’’
They went into the Tokyo medal race in fourth and with a
race,’’ chance of getting on the podium after a consistent week. They were six points behind Spain’s Jordi Xammar and Nicolas Garcia-Paz, with Anton Dahlberg and Fredrik Bergstrom from Sweden a further four points ahead in second.
The Spanish gave the Kiwis close cover on the opening beat but Snow-Hansen, on the tiller, managed to split on the downwind run and crept up to fourth at the halfway stage.
They slipped up to third on the second beat, raising hopes for their medal chances as they edged ahead of Spain.
But in the end their impressive final downwind was in vain with Spain keeping close enough to safeguard their bronze medal.