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Olympic Sailing 2024: Tom Reuveny wins gold for Israel in Men’s Windsurfing
Tom Reuveny picked up a gold medal for Israel in the Men’s Windsurfing with a phenomenal performance in the Final.
Reuveny had not won a race in the Opening Series, but saved his best for last by crossing the line ahead of the pack.
The Netherland’s Luuc van Opzeeland and Great Britain’s Sam Sills qualified for the Semi-Final race with fast finishes in the Quarter-Final.
Van Opzeeland followed that up with another stellar showing in the Semi-Final, winning the race to qualify for the Final. Reuveny was a close second, booking himself a spot in the grand finale.
The duo joined Australia’s Grae Morris in the winner takes all race, which Reuveny eventually mastered, soaring past the others to pick up a gold medal.
Reuveny said: “I have so many emotions. I’ve put in so many years of hard work and I had the perfect Medal Race. I only had to win one race in this event and I won the most important one. I knew I had to get a good start as Luuc and Grae are super-fast.
“I used what I learnt throughout the years and all the medal races that I’ve lost to make this one into a win.”
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Morris said: “That was an epic race, super fun. I was pretty nervous before, but the longer we waited the more I settled and thought about what we were going to do.
“It’s going to be a while before we get to experience this again and I think the wait made it worth it.
“I made a few mistakes and just tried to keep my head clear and take my next opportunity to do what I could. I took everything I’ve done, everything I’ve trained for, and put it into that moment. It could have gone better, but I’m super happy so no regrets at all.”
Van Opzeeland said: “I’m pretty stoked about winning two races to get to the final. I had a bit of overspeed today. I managed to have clear starts and accelerate away.
“In the first race I rounded first and then there was less wind for me than the guys behind me, but I managed to do a good layline there. In the second race I managed to control the whole thing.
“I think the Netherlands has a very strong team and we have sailors sitting at home that would have done fantastic here. That’s the reason why we’re so good.”
How it works:
Medals for the windsurfing (iQFOiL) will be decided by the cumulative results of the 24 athletes over 20 races. The athlete with the lowest total will rank first.
There are three race formats – the Marathon Race, Slalom and Course Racing. Because it’s a longer 60-minute race, the Marathon will be scored as two races. Athletes will be able to discard their worst three finishing positions after they’ve completed 16 or more races.
At the end of the Opening Series, the top ten athletes will qualify for the Medal Series. Those ranked fourth to tenth compete in a Quarter-Final, with the top two reaching the Semi-Final.
They will then face the athletes that finished second and third in the Opening Series. Two will progress from the Semi-Final, joining the top overall athlete in the Final.
The three athletes in the Final are all guaranteed a medal, so the finishing order in the Final race will determine who wins what medal.