Today at the Games: August 1

Wilson guaranteed second Olympic medal

She’s done it – Emma Wilson will become a double Olympic medallist. The windsurfing wonderkid will go into the iQFOiL medal series guaranteed of a place on the podium. Here are the headlines from day five in Marseille.

iQFOiL W
Three more races completed in wacky winds, and yet another win for Wilson. In 14 races she’s won eight, and only finished outside of the top three once. 

Israel’s Sharon Kantor, Wilson’s closest rival, is a massive 31 points behind her in second place. 

The sheer dominance has been rewarded with a bye straight to the three-athlete iQFOiL final, meaning Wilson is assured of a medal. But she’s only got one colour in her sights.

“I'm really happy and, will just give it all tomorrow,” said Wilson, exhausted but elated.

“I'm just going to treat tomorrow like I've done all week – it’s been working.”

iQFOiL M
Anything can happen in the iQFOiL medal series, and Sam Sills knows just by being in the top ten he’s got a shot at gold.

He finishes the qualifying series in eighth, and will have to race his way out of the quarter and then semi-final if he’s to win a medal.

Sills is ready to do his duty for King and country, however.

“I started the event in almost last, and I just had to fight my way all the way back to the top ten, and now it's all on because basically anyone can win in this top ten,” he said. 

“The plan is just get as recovered as possible and try and smash it tomorrow for Great Britain.”

49er
Another crazy day in Marseille saw the Paris 2024 race committee try twice, unsuccessfully, to complete the 49er medal race. 

The first attempt saw the race binned on the second upwind leg, while the second only got as far as the end of the first lap.

Even a change in race course couldn’t save the hopes of the race organisers, and after five hours at sea the fleet was sent home.

James Peters and Fynn Sterritt’s dreams of a Paris 2024 medal live on another day, bolstered by their unwavering positivity.

“Our plan is to sort of choose before the race what we think is going to win the race, and then just go out all guns blazing,” Peters said. “Hopefully it's right. If it is, then we've got a chance. We’ll give ourselves that chance.”

ILCA 7 and ILCA 6
Micky Beckett and Hannah Snellgrove got their Paris 2024 campaigns underway with two races under the blazing Marseille sun. 

With 43 boats in each, the ILCAs are the biggest fleets in the Olympics. As such the pitfalls are great, but both Beckett and Snellgrove navigated day one without issue, other than a serious sweat.

“It was interesting to see how many experienced people were making basic mistakes today, including me,” said Beckett, who sits in 11th after day one, while Snellgrove is 17th. 

“It's not an ideal start, but I'll be fine.  Five more days of this and I think there'll be a lot to happen still.”

Full results can be found here.

What’s coming up
The 49er and 49erFX medal races will be re-run, with the iQFOiL medal series following shortly after. The wind is set to come in early afternoon in Marseille, so everyone has their fingers crossed that all four medals can be handed out come close of play tomorrow. In other news, the mixed dinghy competition gets underway, potentially making Friday a massive day for Olympic sailing. The full Paris 2024 sailing competition schedule is here.

Follow us
Head to the British Sailing Team’s Paris 2024 hub for all the info on how to follow Team GB’s sailors at Paris 2024 including the competition schedule, live tracking, how to watch and more. For real-time updates check out the British Sailing Team’s social media channels.