In Vilamoura, Portugal, fifth place in the ninth penultimate race on the closing day of the European Olympic Boat Championship in Europe was enough for Zsombor Berecz to feel gold in his pocket regardless of the result of the 10th race (he didn’t even start in the 10th race). His victory became official with the publication of the final results list.
The world champion, and now the two-time European champion, our sailors sailed spectacularly in the race from Monday to Friday: he had no race result worse than ten in the arena of 49 Finns from 29 countries and won both races on Thursday. There was no steady and balanced performance for anyone, although they were Olympic and world champions and were among the rookies, the World Championship Stadium met before the Olympic Games. Vilamoura Village was not very strong, and sometimes the best faults were in the circulation of the thermal winds. Ssombor’s biggest opponent, British Olympic champion, four-time Gold Cup winner Giles Scott in the final, was pushed to second by 23 points (!) After ten races. Scott ran the fourteenth and thirteenth day. Niels Theionink of Switzerland took the bronze in the European Championship by winning the last race today.
The next big race for the leading Finnish, the Finnish Gold Cup, the world class boat championships, will take place from May 5 to 12 in Porto, Portugal. It will also be possible to support the Zsombor Berecz here, and we will report on the races one by one.
The grief of competitors in this category, especially the youth, is that by 2024, Paris will not have an Olympic number in the Finnish canoe. This class, which has consistently enjoyed Olympic status since 1952, is currently the only Olympic boat that caters to the physical capabilities of a young athlete weighing 90-100 kg and weighing about 180-200 cm – which, especially for athletes, is not to be missed. I mean, extreme or exaggerated. Can be called. For them, at least according to the International Sailing Federation’s plans, a five-episode career after the Tokyo Olympics would be virtually impossible. However, in recent days, there was a hope that perhaps there was no need to bid farewell to the Olympic finisher. The IOC Presidency has not yet decided to include the two-person, mixed-crew, marine capital vessel in the program instead of the Finnish dinghy, as various safety, material and equal opportunity concerns have been partially expressed. . Recently, in a very diplomatic but somewhat obvious streak between the lines, they wrote to the International Sailing Federation to propose an Olympic number that could be included in the program as the Olympic number for sailing tenth in place of the maritime competition. It can be a Finnish canoe or, with a more creative solution, a Finnish canoe – a European gulet (formerly a women’s Olympic number) for men and women! This is also in line with the International Olympic Committee’s principles on gender balance. By the way, the International Federation of Ship Classes has already officially indicated this common intention, explaining this solution to the International Sailing Federation. In addition to sports policy and business considerations, it is hoped that the athletes and the sporting aspects will catch up, and the Presidency of the International Olympic Committee will have to make a decision on this by May 31.
Staying on the water, on the racetrack, with the transition to another class of boats: This coming Monday, April 19, the International Laser Radial Classes International Competition for Men and the Laser Radial for Women will also begin in Vilamoura, Portugal. The Hungarian side of the event is that it was decided here which of the two Vadnay brothers, Benjamin and Jonathan, would travel to the Tokyo Olympics. We provide a daily “Sister Choice” status report here, at hunsail.hu.
