Barcelona's Florian Trittel wins gold for Spain in skiff racing
Sailer becomes first Catalan to win gold at Paris 2024, alongside Cantabrian Diego Botín
Florian Trittel, representing the Club Nàutic El Balís just outside Barcelona, has become the first Catalan to win gold at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Trittel won in a pairing alongside Cantabrian Diego Botín in the men's Skiff sailing race in the 49er class.
The race was held in the waters of Marseille, rather than Paris, and which was initially due to take place on Thursday, but was postponed due to a lack of wind.
The pair had finished the preliminary race earlier in the day in first position, giving them good chances of finishing the day on the podium.
After a good start, the Spanish team were in second positiong halfway through the race, a position that would have secured gold anyway.
Yet, Trittel and Botín were aggressive in competition and got ahead of their biggest challengers on the day, New Zealand, to finish ahead of the pack and take a glorious gold medal.
Before the start of the Games, sports magazine Sports Illustrated had projected the Skiff racing team to take home bronze, meaning they have outperformed expectations.
Catalan duo Jordi Xammar and Nora Brugman also have medal hopes in the dinghy, competing in the mixed 470 class. August 7 is when the medal races will be held in that event.
Other athletes in medal contention
Catalan athletes also have high hopes in football, with the women's team having won the FIFA World Cup last year, with plenty of Catalan talent in the men's team as well.
Marathon race walk mixed relay team of Cristina Montesinos, Paul McGrath and Raquel González are also highly tipped.
The Spanish men's water polo and men's handball teams are also among the favorites to take a medal at this Olympiad.