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Ellie Aldridge is looking forward to a liquid celebration of her historic kitesurfing gold medal after having to pile on the pounds to be able to handle men’s equipment.
The discipline, which sees competitors fly above the water at up to 40 knots powered by huge kites, made its Olympic debut at Marseille marina and it was 27-year-old Aldridge who sailed away with the first title.
The Dorset athlete went into Thursday’s final sitting second and knowing she could not afford any slip-ups against French rival Lauriane Nolot, with two race wins needed.
And she did not put a foot wrong, winning a straight fight in the opening contest after low winds had again delayed the start and then streaking away to victory in the second race after Nolot briefly fell off her board.
“I still can’t really believe it,” said Aldridge after she was back on dry land. “I just feel so overwhelmed, I almost don’t feel like anything. That whole thing just feels like a dream. It doesn’t feel real.”
Aldridge triumphed despite using a smaller kite than her rivals, 15 metres compared with 21m, but a key component in her success was a programme of weight gain.
“We have different kites we can use, and we can change kites whenever we want, but we also use the same equipment as the guys use, and they’re all 100 kilos,” she said.
“It’s become pretty obvious in recent years that, the heavier you are, the bigger kite you can hold down, and the faster you’ll go.
“Everyone’s been trying to put on a bit of weight when they can and it’s become just part of the fleet really. It’s definitely been the hardest part of my journey. I can’t wait to not have to eat food now.”
Aldridge instead was looking forward to having a beer with the family and friends who lined the beachfront to welcome her.
She is hoping the future of the sport will see the development of specialist women’s equipment, saying: “It’s a shame.
“The equipment for the next cycle has already been announced, so it’s a bit late already. When I first started, I didn’t think it was going to be important. It’s only really in the past two years that it’s become obvious.
“But hopefully in the future we can change the equipment so that we have different-sized kites or something a little bit fairer.”
Aldridge’s success salvages what had been a hugely disappointing regatta for Britain in one of its traditionally strongest sports, with Emma Wilson’s bronze in windsurfing the only other medal.
Light winds have made it a very frustrating fortnight for the sailors, with numerous races delayed and cancelled.
Three wins are needed in the final series in kitesurfing for an athlete to clinch gold, but the leader begins with two wins and second place with one, so it was all or nothing for Aldridge.
The Dorset sailor admitted she only gave herself a small chance of beating the dominant Nolot on home waters, while her victory was also a success for the rest of the British squad back home.
A ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ of kitesurfing took place among the sailing team when it was first mooted as an Olympic sport, with Aldridge coming out on top.
“There was a load of girls that started at the same time,” she said. “We went through the whole journey together. We’ve trained together. We pretty much live together most of the time.
“It has been amazing and the British squad is so strong. Even getting selected to go to the Olympics was a massive thing. I’m just happy that I can do this for the girls as well.”
Earlier, there was major disappointment for John Gimson and Anna Burnet after their medal hopes were ended by disqualification in the final race of the mixed multihull.
They were sitting in third place overall but crossed the start-line fractionally early and, after not crossing back to start again, which would have erased the penalty, they were ejected from the race and slipped to fourth.
Gimson said: “We were over the starting line and we didn’t realise we were so we continued with the race. We heard the shout but we thought we were bang on the line. We have to take it on the chin.”
The duo won silver in Tokyo and had looked in a strong position to match that here.
Burnet added: “It’s the worst way to lose the medal I guess because we were totally in control of the race. But that’s sport and that’s sailing. It’s been a tough old week. We’ve all given it our best and maybe it just wasn’t to be.”
Gimson and Burnet cannot afford to dwell on their disappointment, though, with their wedding coming up early next month.
“Hopefully the wedding planning will be a good distraction,” said Gimson. “We’re about to find out how far Anna’s mum’s got with it. We’ve got a couple of weeks now. I’m sure you can sort a wedding out in a couple of weeks.”
