Thomson qualifies Australia in the Laser Radial for Tokyo 2020
by Australian Sailing Team 26 Jul 2019 15:32 AEST
2019 Laser Radial World Championships © Junichi Hirai / Bulkhead Magazine Japan
On the closing day of the ICLA Laser Radial World Championship, Zoe Thomson qualified Australia for Tokyo 2020 with her combined 213 points, a single point and place ahead of teammate Mara Stransky who was vying for the same outcome.
The 11-race championship, played out on Miho Bay facing the Sea of Japan, proved tough for the Australian Sailing Team's three representatives - Thomson, Stransky and Elyse Ainsworth. The athletes had hoped to finish much higher on the international ladder, but between them did enough to secure an Olympic spot in the women's singlehanded class at Tokyo.
"It was a super tricky event for me and unfortunately I didn't finish as strongly as I'd hoped," Thomson said. "I am keen to refresh at home and take the learnings, to come back smarter and faster. It's cool to have qualified the country for Tokyo, but there's some work to be done to climb the leaderboard in Melbourne in February."
Stransky's summation of her world's campaign echoed Thomson's: "It was a really tough event for me in some fairly random offshore conditions. I'm not stoked with the results on paper but I will take a lot of value from this schooling, and a strong resolve not to let it happen again."
Thomson finished 41st and Stransky 42nd while Ainsworth placed 59th from a total 111 starters representing 49 countries. Conditions were hard going for the closing two races, an unstable offshore gradient breeze with pressure fluctuations between 5 - 14 knots.
Rio 2016 bronze medallist Anne-Marie Rindom was named 2019 Laser Radial world champion, swooping on the final day to relegate the Rio 2016 gold medallist Marit Bouwmeester (NED) to the silver medal position and GBR's Alison Young to bronze.
The next event for the AST is the 470 World Championship at Enoshima, August 2 - 9, then the Olympic test series starting August 17 also at Enoshima, the Olympic regatta venue that will host all national representatives in 2020.
Australian Results: (111 boats)
41st Zoe Thomson (35), 12, 25, 21, 22, 7, 27, 43, 20, (51), 36 = 213pts
42nd Mara Stransky 27, 10, 15, (28), 27, 27, (44), 16, 13, 44, 35 = 214pts
59th Elyse Ainsworth (50), 27, 30, 11, (57 - RET), 10 - SCP, 14, 7, 7, 4, 17 = 127pts
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