An Olympic sailing event has been cancelled due to weak winds, the latest in a series of races to be called off due to unfavourable conditions.
It comes after the men’s single sculls medal race was also dramatically halted last week, with Team GB’s James Peters and Fynn Sterritt both in action before the event was halted off the coast of Marseille.
This time, however, it was Micky Beckett who was competing for Great Britain in the men’s rowing event. He had done his best sailing and was already on his way to silver by the third mark.
But despite his great efforts to get onto the podium, Beckett will now have to do it all again with the race being called off.
The race restarted just under an hour later when the weather cleared. After the first marker he was in sixth place, which put him in fourth place overall.
An Olympic medal event has been cancelled due to adverse weather conditions
Micky Beckett had fought his way to the silver medal before the wind died in Marseille
Beckett’s race was temporarily stopped but restarted about an hour later
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To get back into the medals, Beckett must pass Peruvian Stefano Pechiera to overtake him in the standings and take bronze in the double points race.
The wind was a constant problem during the Olympic Games in Marseille. The wind threatened to pick up again before the race even started this afternoon, but eventually picked up again.
But it did start and after falling behind the leaders Beckett had fought his way to victory and was up to second place before the wind died.
However, he did climb the rankings thanks to penalties over his rivals Pavlos Kontides (Cyprus) and Peschiera.
The race had already been moved to Wednesday after the event was disrupted earlier on Tuesday – again due to weather conditions.
Because the sailing events are of course dependent on the wind, there is a risk that they will be abandoned. But as experienced sailors, the participants are of course not unfamiliar with such eventualities.
Australian Matt Wearn took the lead in the race, with the reigning Olympic champion 14 points ahead of Kontides.
The Cypriot is the only sailor who could catch the Australian, although that could work in Wearn’s favour.
This comes after the men’s skiff medal race was also temporarily halted last Thursday
“I’m in a tough spot now. Matt can only lose the gold medal to me, so he might as well race me and get us both to the back of the fleet and for me it opens the door for third and fourth,” 2012 silver medalist Kontides told Reuters.
“I have to escape and do my best not to open the door for numbers three and four. If I get a chance to go for gold, I will do it,” said Kontides, who won the silver medal in 2012 and is now competing in his fifth Games.
