Jonatan Vadnay, competing in the Laser (ILCA7) class, started his first Olympic Games with the goal of winning a medal, which at first seemed like a bold task, but then he had every chance to do so in Marseille, at the Olympic sailing races. In the end, two of the ten main races were not held due to weak winds, so the 26-year-old Hungarian athlete was waiting for the ten medal race from sixth place on Tuesday, which was postponed a day and held on Wednesday.
The battle for the medal did not start simply, since, according to the rules, points were counted twice. The race was called for the first time, then stopped for the second time, while the Hungarian competitor also capsized, and in the end, Vadnai, who was sailing together, managed to do better on the third start, and it was simply impossible to throw her off, and she sailed purposefully and without error in the finale in weak winds.
“The first postponement wasn’t easy because we didn’t know exactly when we would be in the water, the situation was changing every hour, so we had to stay focused and keep our muscles warm all day. When they blew it, I was relieved that it was over. “I was very happy,” said Vadnay after the competition, who was coached by his brother, Olympian Benjamin. “I really enjoyed my first Olympics, it was better than I expected and I'm not at all upset that I didn't get the bronze medal. The math had to come together for that, I just wanted to finish the last day well, which I did, and I feel like I got fourth place.”
According to him, the Olympic Games were much more intense, with more excitement than any other world competition, but only on the first day of the competition he felt pressure and discomfort due to external factors, and after that he managed to keep his calm. In the medal race he cared only about himself.
“The last day was a highlight of the Olympics for me, with the start, the fall, and being able to get back into the competition, it will all remain a great memory. It was an honor to be here in the medal race.” “It’s a great honour,” said Jonathan Vadnay, whose fourth place is Hungary’s third-best ever Olympic sailing result. In 1980, Detre Szabolcs and Zsolt Detre finished third with the Flying Dutchman, and in 2021, the current national team captain, Zsombor Berecz, won silver with a Finnish boat.
| Such a delay is annoying, but it also shows how good Jonatan is in the race, because at first he did what he planned, then he protected the left side and held it, which worked for him. I think it was a decisive moment when he pulled the boat through the left stroke in the last sailing phase, he led the field, but once he turned the Norwegian opponent unnecessarily, if he had continued with the Australian and the Cypriot, I think. He would have taken the buoy first. The four points that ended up being behind is only two places in total, and as you saw the Peruvian from last place only got ahead of the English opponent through boos, and I think the Australian turned irregularly in the last buoy, as the Cypriot warned, right, it was not taken into account in the end. At the same time, the wind was blowing so hard that it was difficult to choose a strategy even in the last moments, but Jonat competed with great concentration throughout, and only the nuances that made her not win a medal passed, because she was in it. It was a beautiful competition, especially in her first Olympics! |
| In advance, everyone would have signed off on fourth place, but the way he was born is amazing! Johnny sailed perfectly all the way, so she wasn't really lucky once, and didn't get the card. He owes this success only to his hard work and disciplined tactical sailing, and a textbook could be written about what he did in the last few days. In the medal race, he was the best in all three starts, and he has such inner strength, focus and humility that I haven't met often. This is his first Olympics, and he has a great future ahead of him. |
