Paris 2024: Morris has Gold on his Mind after Clinching a Medal in Men's Windsurfing
by World Sailing 2 Aug 2024 05:21 AEST
28 July - 8 August 2024
Grae Morris proved consistency pays off as he secured a medal in the Men's Windsurfing for Australia.
Morris struggled at the start of the Opening Series, but managed to rally to climb up the leaderboard and eventually finish on top. That means he automatically qualifies for the Final race tomorrow where he will win a bronze medal at the very least.
Israel's Tom Reuveny finished three points behind Morris overall, closing out the day with a second placed finish in race 13.
He will go straight through to the Semi-Final race tomorrow, alongside New Zealand's Josh Armit, who in turn finished three points behind Reuveny.
The remaining athletes that finished between fourth and tenth will go into a Quarter-Final and the top two from that race will join Reuveny and Armit in the Semi-Final.
Morris said: "It's super hard being at the top and staying at the top. It feels good now, but knowing that you have to pull off the next best thing tomorrow makes it a bit nerve-wracking, but it's all honest work.
"I does ease my mind a little, knowing that I'll be coming home with something in my hand, but I'm not fully satisfied until it's over and the gold medal is still in play and that won't leave my mind tonight.
"It's not about winning every race, it's about being super accurate and staying in the top ten and minimising mistakes. It's not about completely dominating, it's about being a second in front at the finish, just like running."
Poland's Pawel Tarnowski, who finished fourth, said: "I think I lost a top three position in the last races. I stopped on the last mark before the finish, although I was going quite well in the top ten which would have given me a top three position.
"The Quarter-Final is going to be tough for sure. It was very inconsistent out there today, I hoped for a better finish at the end of the day."
Follow the action at paris2024.sailing.org
How it works:
Medals for the windsurfing (iQFOiL) will be decided by the cumulative results of the 24 athletes over 20 races. The athlete with the lowest total will rank first.
There are three race formats - the Marathon Race, Slalom and Course Racing. Because it's a longer 60-minute race, the Marathon will be scored as two races. Athletes will be able to discard their worst three finishing positions after they've completed 16 or more races.
At the end of the Opening Series, the top ten athletes will qualify for the Medal Series. Those ranked fourth to tenth compete in a Quarter-Final, with the top two reaching the Semi-Final.
They will then face the athletes that finished second and third in the Opening Series. Two will progress from the Semi-Final, joining the top overall athlete in the Final.
The three athletes in the Final are all guaranteed a medal, so the finishing order in the Final race will determine who wins what medal.