Finalists and Olympic spots decided on Day 5 of the iQFOiL World Championships

Five more races were sailed on the fifth day of the iQFOiL World Championship as Lanzarote produced another day of great conditions. Two slalom races and three course races were completed and the top 10 Men and Women selected for tomorrow’s Medal Series, single quarter-final regatta, semi-final and the Grand Final.

With country places for the Olympic Games at stake, national selections to choose a representative, as well as the world titles, all to be decided, the tensions and pressure rose as the day progressed. And so maybe it was no surprise there were four general recalls and many black flags which prematurely buried the hopes of a few contenders.

The women started with three Course Racing contested followed by two slaloms, with the wind fading as the day continued, and by the end of the afternoon the breeze had dropped to 8-10 knots.

In the women’s championship the podium remains unchanged. GBR’s Emma Wilson remains dominant with four race wins today added to a third place meaning Britain’s Tokyo medallist has already booked her place into Saturday’s Grand Final.

Spain’s Pilar Lamadrid will also go directly to the semi-final lying second overall, as also does Israeli Katy Spychakov, who takes the lead in her national Olympic selection, which will be decided tomorrow. But there is little room for mistakes with compatriots Sharon Kantor in fourth place and defending champion Shahar Tibi in sixth.

The men’s fleet was the first to take to the water today, first completing two slalom races in about 10-13 knots of wind; then three course races were sailed.

The Spanish representative for Paris 2024, 19 year old youth sailor Nacho Baltasar has qualified for tomorrow’s Medal Series by finishing 10th today out of a total of 118 windsurfers.

Luuc van Opzeeland has led the World Championship since day one and today was no exception, with results of 1-2-1-1 and a 34th place that he discards. The Dutchman is the great rival to beat and goes directly to tomorrow’s Grand Final.

And today’s second and third place finishers, Nicolo Renna (ITA) and Kiran Badloe (NED), respectively, go straight to the semi-final. Badloe, Olympic champion in Tokyo, is also fighting to represent his country in the Olympic Games.

This World Championships offers a country place for Men and Women in the case of European nations. Starting today, the 16 countries that already have a place in the men’s Olympic fleet are joined by Denmark thanks to Johan Søe: “I’m super happy, that was the main objective here. Now, the Princess Sofia Trophy will be the last part of our internal qualification.”

The women’s country place goes to Germany thanks to Theresa Steinlein.

Everyone is waiting for what happens tomorrow, the last day of the world championship, with only the top 10 classified on the starting line.

Racing is scheduled to begin at 12:00 local time and will be broadcast live on the iQFOiL class YouTube channel.

Prize-giving will be held at 18:00 local time in Plaza de Capitanía, in Marina Rubicón.

Text and images courtesy of iQFOiL.