Olympic Sailing 2024: Magnificent Maggetti gets the gold for Italy in Women’s Windsurfing

Despite not winning a race in the Opening Series, Maggetti rose to the occasion when the pressure amplified to top the podium.

Peru’s Maria Belen Bazo and China’s Zheng Yan were the top two in the Quarter-Final race and progressed to the Semi-Final where they met Maggetti and Israel’s Sharon Kantor.

The reigning world champion Kantor won the race and was closedly followed by Maggetti, meaning the two progressed to the Final to face off with Great Britain’s Emma Wilson.

With the standings decided by the final race, Maggetti switched into gear and took the lead halfway through and did not relinquish her position, crossing the finish line ahead of the other two windsurfers. Kantor followed to take silver, while Wilson got the bronze.

Maggetti said: “I’m so happy. I wasn’t stressed today. After I finished the Semi-Final I cried a bit, but then I focused and told myself I wanted the gold.

“In the first lap I was close, but in third, I tacked for the mark before Emma and Sharon, so I did less distance on the race course.

“There was no public in Tokyo, no crowd, so the atmosphere here is different and it’s so nice.”

 

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Kantor said: “I was a bit nervous, but it was an exciting situation. When I got to the Final I felt relief. To get a medal for me is enough. I am so happy.”

Wilson said: “I was ahead, made a mistake on the layline. I hadn’t done a race yet and the other girls had done a race, so they knew where the layline was. I’ll be proud when I get on the podium.

“The girls I race against are amazing. I have been racing Marta since I was eight, she’s an amazing person so I’m really happy for her.”

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.