Matt Wearn has stamped himself as one of the best sailors of his generation, winning his second consecutive Olympic gold medal in the Men’s Dinghy event after a dramatic Medal Race in Marseille.
He is the first athlete to win consecutive Olympic titles in the event, which will sit nicely with the consecutive World Championships he has won over the past two years.
“It hasn’t quite sunk in yet,” said Wearn.
“I was dreaming about one gold medal for such a long time, but the last three years been dreaming about going back-to-back and it’s just phenomenal. The fact that no-one else has done it before probably shows how special it is.”
This title is extra sweet for Wearn, having overcome long-COVID in 2022 which had him wondering whether he would ever be able to sail again.
“That was tough,” continued Wearn. “There was obviously that moment there where I thought that I wouldn’t be competing again and that I certainly wouldn’t be as strong as I am now.
“I have a fantastic team to thank for that, but we’ve come back stronger and better than we had before.”
Wearn did this one in style. He led for most of the regatta and was forced to wait two days for his Medal Race after the breeze failed to show yesterday.
Wearn, best known for strength in the bigger winds, held a 14-point lead over Cypriot Pavlos Kontides coming into today where 5-10 knots were predicted.
He had Kontides covered in a race which was ultimately abandoned after a shift in the wind direction. After a short delay the race started for a second time and Wearn took the opportunity to show why he is the Men’s Dinghy king.
The Western Australian spent most of the race shadowing Kontides, but by the final top mark had hit the lead and sailed home to victory.
This is Australia’s fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal in the class, with this win following victories for Tom Slingsby (London 2012), Tom Burton (Rio 2016) and of course Wearn himself in Tokyo three years ago.
Wearn moved from long-time Australian Dinghy coach Michael Blackburn as he took on the role of Australian Sailing’s Technical Director and transitioned to Rafa Trujillo this Olympiad, in what has turned out to be an inspired move.
“It is all thanks to Matt Wearn for the work he did and to the rest of the squad who worked so hard with Matt to help him back from long-COVID and get him where he is now,” said Trujillo.
“We did a lot of training in Marseille and back home over the past two years improving his light wind work, and it all showed today winning the Medal Race at the Olympics in winds under 5 knots.
“Now I call him the light wind maniac because he is almost better in light winds than strong winds.”
Trujillo is sure of where this leaves Wearn and his legacy within the class.
“He now has the crown of the best ILCA 7 sailor in the world and is challenging the best in history with two Olympic Golds.”
Wearn left the door open when asked about the prospect of pushing on to try and make it a three-peat at LA 2028.
“It’s pretty enticing. The body’s feeling great, it’s the best it’s ever felt. We’ll see where the dust settles, how I feel and what opportunities come up in the next little while, and we’ll go from there.”
But for now, Wearn deserves to bask in the knowledge that his legacy is secure as a two-time Olympic champion.
The light breeze didn’t hang around for long, with Nia Jerwood and Conor Nicholas (Mixed Dinghy Medal Race) and Breiana Whitehead (Women’s Kite qualifying series) having their racing postponed until tomorrow.
There are stronger winds predicted tomorrow, with the Women’s Kite event going into their Medal Series where Whitehead had qualified for the Semi Final.
Visit the Australian Sailing Team website for more information or see full results here.
Paris 2024 Olympic Regatta standings
Men’s Dinghy (43 entries) – Complete
1st: Matt Wearn (AUS) 12, 2, 1, (18), 1, 2, 10, 10, 2 MR – 40 points – GOLD MEDAL
2nd: Pavlos Kontides (CYP) 17, 5, (27), 5, 10, 5, 3, 7, 4 MR – 56 points
3rd: Stefano Peschiera (PER) 6, 1, 14, 11, (20), 14, 12, 4, 18 MR – 80 points
