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Ellie Aldridge rolled the dice and came out with Olympic gold.
It has been a deeply frustrating regatta for Team GB’s sailors, who have been twiddling their thumbs for the most part due to a lack of wind.
When they have been able to race, results have been mixed with Emma Wilson’s bronze their only medal heading into the final day.
“It has been a tricky week,” said Aldridge, “As soon as we knew we were competing at Marseille, we knew it was going to be tough, we knew the wind was going to be light, we knew it would be one of the worst places we’ve ever kited.”
This meant that only those who could adapt would survive and Aldridge did exactly that to be crowned Olympic champion in the inaugural women’s kite event.
Kite foiling is the fastest sport on the Olympic programme and sees riders “fly” above the water on hydrofoils attached to boards, powered by huge kites.
A chaotic finals format sees the scores from the opening series wiped and the last four riders standing battle it out for medals.
The Briton did enough to make it into the final series where she faced Lauriane Nolot, the French favourite who has been her nemesis in recent years.
Nolot won gold and Aldridge silver at the last two World Championships and at the Test Event. To overhaul the odds, Aldridge had one joker to play and played it to perfection.
The competitors have a choice of kite size, depending on weather conditions, and can change kites during the racing if they wish.
Aldridge was the only rider to choose a smaller kite. It was a risk that paid off handsomely as she carried far more speed than her rivals in the two deciding races, leading from start to finish in both to claim a stunning victory.
“It just felt like a 21 (larger size) wasn’t the right thing for me,” said Aldridge. “I went out on a 21 and thought, ‘nah’. I prefer the 15 on a shorter course, it’s more manoeuvrable and I feel more comfortable.
“I knew the bigger kites would be faster downwind and then slower upwind so when I went down the mark I knew that was when I had to make the overtake.
“I trusted my gut and it worked out that it was the right thing to do.”
It was a clutch bit of decision-making that rescued the Olympics for the Team GB sailing squad.
The sigh of relief breathed by British sailing bosses when Aldridge crossed the line first was almost audible from Paris.
It came a few hours after John Gimson and Anna Burnet squandered bronze medal position in the mixed multihull when they were disqualified for being over the start line when the medal race began. Micky Beckett was another to harbour medal hopes heading into the medal race but he crashed and burned, finishing last in the men’s dinghy event.
Asked whether the team’s underperformance piled pressure on her own race, Aldridge said: “Not really. I know the other guys in the team could easily have won gold and they just didn’t have the right week. They were a bit unlucky with the conditions and the circumstances.
“I know we have a strong team even though the medal count doesn’t show it. The other guys are amazing athletes. I feel really happy to have got the gold but I also hope it raises everyone’s spirits a bit.”
Follow the British Sailing Team at Paris 2024 on Instagram at @britishsailing and on www.britishsailingteam.com
