Ride along with Sam Latham (K15) slalom training this winter in Weymouth.
WEYMOUTH, England – If this truly was the end of windsurfing in the Olympics, it was definitely memorable.
Dorian Van Rijsselberge of the Netherlands exuberantly validated the men’s gold medal he had clinched days earlier, and Marina Alabau of Spain skimmed across the waves to win the women’s regatta Tuesday.
Windsurfing was removed from the lineup for the 2016 Rio Olympics in a vote in May, replaced by kiteboarding. The International RS:X Class Association filed a legal challenge last week against the International Sailing Federation. So to do your bit head over to change.org and sign the petition, it takes two minutes and could secure the Olympic dreams for many across the world.
Alabau got a regal send-off from her fellow Spanish sailors after coming ashore. As she stood on her board, they hoisted it on their shoulders and paraded her through the boat park. She held a bottle of Spanish sparkling wine in her left hand and waved the Spanish flag with her right. “It was the best of the week, for sure,” she said.
“Yeah, I think this was a mistake,” she said about windsurfing getting blown out of the games. “I think it will come back. This is my hope and this is what I think will be the right thing. I know how to kite and I will kite if they don’t give me another chance, but I love windsurfing.”
Van Rijsselberge agreed. “Of course it’s a sad thing,” he said. “Look at all the people here. Everyone is enjoying themselves. They come off the water with smiles on their faces.”
His gold medal already guaranteed, all Van Rijsselberge had to do was stay on his board and finish the final race.
He did much more than that, winning the medals race to clinch his gold in style.
After winning the race, the 6-foot-3 Van Rijsselberge climbed on top of the console on his coach’s boat and, hanging onto the pole that supports the weather vane, flashed the “hang loose” sign with his right hand. A large Dutch flag flew from the boat.
The Dutchman, who shaved his head just before the games began, said he wanted to do well in the final race.
“It was already in the pocket, but finishing it up like this and seeing everyone on the Nothe Course and them outroaring the British a little bit was a good thing for me, so why not?” he said. “I want to have a good feeling and I want to wrap it up nicely. It’s the medals race and you’ve got to race it. It’s the most important race, pretty much.”
Van Rijsselberge won six of the first nine races. His lead was so big that he sat out the 10th race.
Nick Dempsey of Britain took the silver and Poland’s Przemyslaw Miarczynski got the bronze.
With the race close to shore, Dempsey hopped off his board and greeted friends and family watching from Nothe Fort.
Alabau came into the medals race with a 14-point lead and preserved it by finishing first.
Tuuli Petaja of Finland jumped from third place overall to take the silver medal, thanks to a fourth-place finish in the medals race. Poland’s Zofia Noceti-Klepacka jumped from fifth overall to take the bronze.
