Olympic Diary: Alex Maloney & Molly Meech

The Rio 2016 women’s skiff silver medallists Alex Maloney & Molly Meech (NZL) have continued to train and sail together in New Zealand ahead of next year’s Olympic Games.

Tell us about your memories of Rio 2016.
Alex: In our Medal Race in Rio, there were four of us who went in on kind of equal points, so it made for a really exciting race. We could have got anywhere from gold or fourth. It was all on and for a while we were in the gold medal position, then we dropped back to second, and I think there was a few seconds in it at the finish; a close and exciting Medal Race!

Molly: It was a privilege to be there, representing New Zealand and wearing the silver fern. It was such a special moment to not only be standing on the podium, receiving our medal for second place, but also to have our friends on the podium with us, so pretty amazing really.

What has lockdown been like for you? How did you train and keep fit onshore while you weren’t allowed to sail?
Alex: Lockdown was a unique experience for us and, I think, for the whole world. We were able to do quite a lot of fitness onshore, so when we were allowed to hit the water we were ready to be out there. We feel really lucky to be out sailing again, it’s pretty nice.

With Tokyo 2020 being rescheduled to 2021, what are your plans for the next 12 months, and how will you prepare and train for another year of Olympic campaigning?
Molly: At the moment we’re here in New Zealand and we’re planning to train here for the foreseeable future, I guess. We’re just making the most of the situation and just assessing our plans as we go along; what regattas we can and can’t attend. We’re looking forward to hopefully racing against the rest of the fleet soon and heading into 2021 and towards the Games.

Tokyo Olympic Sailing Program
Men’s One Person Dinghy – Laser
Women’s One Person Dinghy – Laser Radial
Men’s Two Person Dinghy – 470
Women’s Two Person Dinghy – 470
Men’s Skiff – 49er
Women’s Skiff – 49erFx
Men’s One Person Dinghy Heavy – Finn
Men’s Windsurfing – RS:X
Women’s Windsurfing – RS:X
Mixed Multihull – Nacra 17

Original dates: July 24 to August 9, 2020
Revised dates: July 23 to August 8, 2021

Details: https://tokyo2020.org/en/games/schedule/olympic/