Matt Wearn struggled to get out of bed after Tokyo. Now he’s a dual Olympic champion

Paris: In the end, it was well worth the wait.

Over two days Matt Wearn sat on a beach in the sweltering heat of the south of France, hoping for the wind to pick up enough to get back on the water.

Matt Wearn’s teammates and support crew carried him back to shore aboard his boat like and all-conquering Viking warrior. Credit: Getty Images

Most quests for gold at these Games are over in minutes – sometimes just seconds. Wearn’s bid to join the history books at the Bay of Marseilles was full of delays, postponements and false starts.

He was just minutes from making history when yet another running of the race was called off, with just one leg left to complete, because of failing wind.

But finally, after a torturous 36 hours and, in fact, two years battling long COVID, the Perth sailor  landed his second gold medal.

“I feel like it’s been dangling in front of me for two days,” Wearn said. “There were a few expletives thrown around, it was pretty frustrating … especially the second time when they abandoned it … because we were so far round the track.”

“But Rafa (Trujillo), my coach, did a fantastic job just to settle me down, get me ready to go for another one. We just had to keep executing our plan and that’s what we did … “Luckily it [the wind] filled back in, and we didn’t have to wait for another day.”

The 28-year-old is the first ever back-to-back Olympic champion in the men’s dinghy event, extending Australia’s golden run in the class by taking the title for the fourth consecutive Olympics. His two medals follow Tom Burton in Rio 2016 and Tom Slingsby’s triumph at London 2012.

Wearn with a commemorative tattoo of his finishing positions in his first two races before his comeback win.

Wearn’s teammates and support crew hoisted him high on his boat and carried him along the shore, like a returning all-conquering Viking warrior, albeit clutching a boxing kangaroo.

He has spoken openly about his personal battles with confidence and mental anguish in the sport and has two of his poorest competition race rankings – 17 and 28 – tattooed on his arm as a reminder that fortunes can quickly change.

The Western Australian’s post-Tokyo experience involved countless days in bed and on the couch, wondering if his body would allow him to sail properly again. He not only fell sick but was so sick he couldn’t seem to shake it. It was eventually diagnosed as long COVID. He recovered with the help of a physiologist.

“It hasn’t really sunk in,” he told reporters after the medal ceremony. “I was probably feeling a bit more emotional before the race … I thought I’d break down pretty quickly, but it’s just pure excitement.

“It’s something no one’s done before, going back-to-back in the ILCA [dinghy] – or the laser as it was before. That was a massive goal and I’ve made it happen so it’s pretty special.”

Heading into the double-point medal decider, his 14 -point lead meant had already locked up a silver medal and could only be overtaken by Pavlos Kontides, of Cyprus. Wearn made no mistake, crossing the finish line in first place.

Kontides was second in the medal race to take silver while Peruvian Stefano Peschiera was in third overall.

Matthew Wearn celebrates after winning the gold medal in men’s dinghy class final race.Credit: AP

He becomes only the third Australian sailor to own two gold medals alongside Tokyo and 2012 London gold medal-winning skipper Mat Belcher and Mal Page in 2008 and 2012. In a sport that now ranks fourth on Australia’s best performers at the Olympics – 14 golds and 29 medals all up – he is now one of its all-time greats. But said this week he was not expecting a lot of fanfare in real life post the Games.

When he won three years ago in Tokyo, no new sponsors came knocking at the door. Not many people recognised Wearn even in the streets of his hometown of Perth.

“I don’t do it for the money but you see swimming and other sports with big backing from Gina Rinehart and sponsors,” Wearn, who has had some help from a private benefactor and a sponsor briefly post Tokyo, told journalists.

“It’s a bit rough. You see it changing their world from a financial point of view and we blend back into society and no one knows who you are.”

Wearn was introduced to the sport, aged four, courtesy of a sailing-mad family. He’s also started a new one: his wife, Belgium’s Emma Plasschaet, placed seventh earlier in the day in the women’s dinghy class.

He turned down a promising Australian rules career with East Perth once he realised pursuing both elite football and a sailing career wasn’t possible.

“His strength and his determination and his focus is just awesome,” his mum, Karen, told Channel 9, standing alongside husband Brad, after their son’s victory. “And to see all his dreams come true is just unbelievable. He’s scary. He’s just so strong, he’s so composed. He’s an extraordinary person.”

Asked whether a third gold remains in his sights (he will be just 32 in Los Angeles in four years time), Wearn admitted it was “pretty enticing”.

“The body’s feeling great, the best it’s ever felt I think,” he said.

But for now, it’s a quiet beer with teammates, family and friends.

“There’ll be a pretty big party when we get back to Australia, I think.”

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