A Top 10 Performance Was the Goal Headed into Medal Race

August 18, 2016 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – The final races of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games sailing competition were held on Thursday in the shadow of Sugarloaf Mountain as a crowd of thousands cheered from Flamengo Beach. With a fresh breeze, close racing, and live television coverage, the world saw the sport of sailing at its most dramatic. The Women’s and Men’s 470 classes were the first to hold their medal races after an absence of wind on Wednesday forced their postponement, and the event was capped by races in the Men’s 49er and Women’s 49erFX skiff classes.

It was a day of mixed results for Team USA. The American Men’s 470 team, mathematically unable to reach the podium in the medal race, finished a strong 2nd in the double-points race and defended their position in 4th place overall. The U.S. 49erFX team ended their regatta in 10th after a career-best performance. Team USA’s Women’s 470 team were in podium position as late as halfway through their closely-contested medal race, but in a heartbreaking ending finished 10th in the race and 7th overall.

Paris Henken (Coronado, Calif.) and Helena Scutt (Kirkland, Wash.) competed in the second medal race of their careers on Thursday, and on one of the biggest stages the sport can offer. The youngest team in the fleet, Henken and Scutt said a top-10 performance was their goal headed into the event. “We’re really happy with our performance, and we were proud to be a part of the medal race on behalf of Team USA,” said Scutt. Rio 2016 also marked the entrance of the all-female and high-octane 49erFX into Olympic competition, and Scutt said it was an important development for the sport overall. “I think it was about time that women had a skiff in the Games, and I think the performances this week, with the competitive fleet we had, showed that we all belong here. This will be an exciting class for many years to come.”

– See more and read full story at US Sailing here.