Bouwmeester: Top Olympic female sailor

Marseille, France (August 7, 2024) – The Women’s Dinghy is one of 10 Sailing events held at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Using the ILCA 6 equipment, 43 nations completed a 9-race Opening Series on August 1-5, with the top 10 advancing to the Medal Race on August 6. When light air prevailed that day, the double-point Medal Race was postponed to today to finalize the cumulative results. Here’s the final report:

For all competition reports, click here.

Event details – Results – Notice Board

Marit Bouwmeester (NED) finally got her hands on gold following the completion of the Medal Race. The Dutch sailor had already wrapped up the gold medal, after finishing in the top five on seven occasions during the Opening Series, but persistent light wind meant she had to wait an extra day before getting her long-awaited prize.

By winning gold, Bouwmeester became the most successful female Olympic sailor ever, with her four medals overtaking Great Britain’s two-time Olympic champion Hannah Mills in the process.

Bouwmeester crossed the line in fourth in the Medal Race after wrapping up the top spot in quick time, meaning she has now won gold in Paris 2024 and Rio 2016, a silver in London 2012 and a bronze in Tokyo 2020.

“In the build-up to the Medal Race I tried to stay focused, but I’m also a mum as well so I had to be there for Jessie Mae,” said Bouwmeester. “I’ve been with her a lot, putting her to bed and being there when she wakes up. It’s nice to finally finish it off, it hasn’t sunk in yet.

“I think sometimes at the Olympics you can get too serious too quickly, so it’s nice to have a distraction with Jessie Mae. Then you also have the lack of sleep and the loss of energy, but I’m grateful to be a mum and an athlete.”

Denmark – Silver
Anne-Marie Rindom was unable to defend her Olympic title from Tokyo, but settled for a super silver which she also had wrapped up prior to the Medal Race, in which she finished fifth.

“It’s huge just to get to an Olympic Games so to secure a medal is amazing,” shared Rindom. “It’s really hard to perform at an Olympics and it’s been nerve-wracking, but I kept fighting right to the end. I don’t think this was my last race.”

Norway – Bronze
The only medal up for grabs heading into the Medal Race was the bronze and it was Line Flem Hoest’s to lose. The Norwegian went into the finale sitting in third and held on to that spot, crossing the finish line in second behind Italy’s Chiara Benini Floriani to take home a bronze medal.

“My plan was to have a good start and go off my speed,” noted the Norwegian. “I managed to reel it back in and get my speed up. I thought the left looked good before the start and only started thinking about my competitors after the first mark.

“You never know what can happen in a race so I tried to keep it cool and stay where I thought it would be best and on the last downwind I saw it was going to go my way and that was amazing.”

North America
USA and Canada entered the Medal Race in ninth and tenth respectively, with Sarah Douglass (CAN) jumping to eighth by posting a third, while a sixth by Erika Reineke (USA) kept her in ninth.

To watch video replay, click here.

Final Results:
1. Marit Bouwmeester (NED)
2. Anne-Marie Rindom (DEN)
3. Line Flem Hoest (NOR)
8. Sarah Douglas (CAN)
9. Erika Reineke (USA)
26. Elena Oetling Ramirez (MEX)
36. Adriana Penruddocke (BER)
41. Charlotte Webster (CAY)

Event details – Results – Notice Board

Medal Count (G-S-B) – Six of 10 events completed
Netherlands: 2-0-1
Australia: 1-1-0
Israel: 1-1-0
Italy: 1-0-0
Spain: 1-0-0
Cyprus: 0-1-0
Denmark: 0-1-0
New Zealand: 0-1-0
Sweden: 0-1-0
Great Britain: 0-0-1
France: 0-0-1
Norway: 0-0-1
Peru: 0-0-1
USA: 0-0-1

Source: World Sailing