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Olympic Sailing 2024: Bontus and Aldridge win first fver Formula Kite races at the Olympics
Valentin Bontus and Ellie Aldridge soared to victory in the first ever Formula Kite races hosted at an Olympics.
Austria’s Bontus won the opening race in the Men’s Kite and he followed that up with second in race two, which was enough to rank him second after the first four races.
Slovenia’s Toni Vodisek also started strongly, placing second in the inaugural race, and he followed that up with a win in race three.
Former world champion Vodisek enjoyed the best day of all the sailors and sits top of the standings, right above Bontus.
Tennage sensation Max Maeder won the second race of the day, but a DNF in the last race means he sits third overall, tied on points with Bontus.
Great Britain’s Aldridge made history by winning the Women’s Kite curtain raiser, and followed that performance with back-to-back second place finishes.
France’s Lauriane Nolot narrowly edged in front of Aldridge in the overall rankings, carried by a win in race two, though the French and British athletes are level on points.
USA’s Daniela Moroz got in on the action at the end of the day, winning race four, to take third in the standings.
Bontus said: “Crossing that finish line of the first race in the lead, it was an amazing feeling. I tried to stay calm, because it’s just one race of many that I want to win here.”
Aldridge said: “Winning the first race of a new Olympic discipline was cool. My coach always says the first race of the day is the easiest to win. I’m glad I could just get a good start and get out in front. It was really cool.”
Nolot said: “It’s quite a good feeling to be leading after day one, although it’s not properly leading because I’m on equal points with Ellie.
“I have been waiting for this moment for so long, and it’s a bit horrible to be starting last because all my friends are racing or they have finished already. I am sharing a room with Charline [Picon] so it’s pretty good to have someone who brings good vibes. She’s giving me energy, so it’s pretty sick.”
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Moroz said: “It’s almost like first day of school jitters, but this time it’s first day at the Olympics, you know. So I got those jitters out of the way in the first couple races and I felt like I had a really solid couple of races. It’s good just to put some solid scores on the board.”
Vodisek said: “It’s really exciting to get a bullet on the Olympic stage. I didn’t know that I’m in first place until I found out from reporters. That’s pretty cool I guess.
“I’m going home to play a video game, League of Legends. I hope I can win that too.”
How it works:
Medals for the Men’s and Women’s Kite will be decided by the cumulative results of the 20 athletes over 16 races. The athlete with the lowest total will rank first. Athletes can discard their worst three finishing positions after they’ve completed 11 or more races.
At the end of the Opening Series, the top ten athletes will qualify for the Medal Series. Those ranked third to tenth compete in the Semi-Finals, going into two groups of four. Those seeded third and fourth after the Opening Series begin the Semi-Finals with two wins, while the fifth and sixth seeds carry over one victory.
The first athlete in each Semi-Final to get three wins qualifies for the Finals. In the four-athlete Final, the top overall seed from the Opening Series begins with two wins, the second seed with one and the two winners of the Semi-Finals start from scratch. Once again, the first to three wins gets the gold and the remaining medals are awarded based on number of race wins and seeding.