Two years ago Matt Wearn was struggling to get off the couch, find motivation and eat enough food to stop kilos falling from his lean body. Today he is a gold medallist after a crazy day at sea.
Helmet, knife, impact vest. Check. About the only things missing from Australian sailor Breiana Whitehead’s James Bond style sailing kit are a microchip implant and a martini shaker.
They are besties from way back and while without a big win in an international regatta together this crew of Aussie battlers could be in with a show of a surprise medal in Marseille.
Three years ago internationals cold shouldered him as a training partner because they didn’t think he was good. Now the youngest iQFOiL windsurfer at the Olympics is our first sailing medallist.
Cards, monopoly, putting up a tent. This Olympic debutant can’t help turning everything into a competition and it could be the secret of her success as she hunts breeze and history in Paris.
The youngest member of our sailing team has roared into top spot in the race for a historic gold but its oldest and youngest female are out of the chase for a podium at the Paris Games.
In a sport where you can still win even when last in a race and its often better to go the long way than the direct route, sailing threw another curve ball at one of Australia’s medal hopes.
It’s more dangerous than a multiple Olympic champion or young gun on a hot streak. What our sailors fear most during their campaigns off Marseille.
Grae Morris loves nothing more than cracking a crash highlight reel by pushing himself to the limits in the edgy new foiling windsurfer class – as long as it not at the Olympics.
They created a stir when first used in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race but now these black sails will make their dark and moody presence felt in Olympic waters.
“Sailing sisters” Olivia Price and Evie Haseldine are chasing special history in the waters off Marseille as part of an unusual campaign for success involving tough love and plenty of tears
Just one Australian is in a medal ranking position heading into the Olympic sailing regatta in Marseille but the cool kids of the sport could upset the numbers game.
Soaring heat will turn the Olympic sailing competition into a test of survival as much as a test of skill with a heat warning in play at the Marseilles venue and sailors “brain fried” after one day.
It could be the weirdest preparation for an Olympics our sailors have ever done – bushwalking. But it’s come in handy thanks to a ban on bikes and scooters at the sailing venue in Marseille.
Original URL: https://www.thechronicle.com.au/sport/olympics/sailing/page/2