Rio 2016 Paralympics - Sydney 2000, Germans shine Down Under

by World Sailing on 2 Sep 2016 The Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games opened in a typically Australian blaze of colour. The atmosphere in the city was electric and the competition would be even more so.

Sailing was appearing in the Paralympic Games Competition program as a full medal sport for the first time at Sydney 2000 after being featured as a demonstration sport at the Atlanta 1996 Games. After the success of four years previous, expectations were high.

Sydney 2000 was also the debut of what is arguably the closest fought class in Paralympic sailing, the single-person 2.4mR keelboat. A single-person event had been suggested for the previous games in Atlanta but had ultimately fallen through. Four years later and the tiny 2.4mR would make its inaugural Paralympic appearance alongside the three-person Sonar on the waters of Rushcutters Bay.

Sailing the 2.4mR is often likened to sitting in a Formula One car and on the water, just like on the track, it was a German who dominated in 2000. Heiko Kroeger's mastery of Sydney's sea breezes delivered him wins in five of the seven races giving him a regatta score of just 10 points. In the ultra-competitive 17-boat fleet Kroeger claimed his gold medal with one race to go, a brutal demonstration of skill and talent of the man who is currently the most successful Paralympic sailor ever.

Five points behind Kroeger, Jens Als Andersen (DEN) delivered a solid performance to take the silver while Thomas Brown (USA) snatched the bronze, just one point ahead of his rival, the world champion and pre-regatta favourite, Peter Thompson (AUS).

Dominance in the three-person Sonar was harder to come by. The competition got off to a slow start for the 15 nations competing with general recalls in both of the races on the first day. Peter Reichl, Peter Muenter and Jens Kroker (GER) took first blood, gracefully sweeping to victory in the shifty nine knot conditions with a lead of 80 seconds over second placed David Williams, Paul Tingley and Brian MacDonald (CAN).

Australia took third place. Race two was all about the Aussies. Going left paid again for the Australian crew of the late Noel Robbins, Jamie Dunross and Graeme Martin and they stormed away from the fleet. But a second for Armenia, and wins for Ireland and Israel threw the competition wide open.

In the end it would come down to a battle between the top three boats for the podium. Germany, Australia and Canada had been consistent throughout the competition but it was Australia who managed to put six points between them and their rivals to seize gold and redeem Australian medal hopes. Germany took silver and with it the title of top Paralympic sailing nation. Canada completed the podium, adding bronze to the silver claimed by their countrymen four years earlier.

The Rio 2016 Paralympic Games will take place between 7-18 September in Rio de Janeiro and the sailing is scheduled to be raced between 12-17 September in Guanabara Bay.