Emma Wilson accused sailing officials of putting athletes’ mental health at risk after falling foul of a controversial new format and being forced to settle for a second consecutive windsurfing bronze medal off the coast of Marseille on Saturday.
The 25-year-old finished last of three in the winner-takes-all medal race that was introduced following the delayed Tokyo Games in order to inject greater jeopardy to the conclusion of the competition.
Wilson was handed a direct route to the final after finishing top of the qualifying standings by winning eight of the 14 races – but had to sit and watch her rivals get to the grips with the conditions as they fought to join her.
Wilson, who held a narrow lead at the halfway stage of the final, subsequently chose the wrong line and finished well behind her opponents, with Italy’s Marta Maggetti taking gold and Israel’s Sharon Kantor, the second highest qualifier, in silver medal position.
“I think it’s obvious I’m at a disadvantage, and I think they (sailing officials) should think about it, and think about people’s mental health as well,” said a clearly emotional Wilson afterwards.
“It’s not OK to put people in this position every time. I had a 60-point lead at the World Championships, and a 30-point lead here. I don’t know how many times you can come back. I think I’m done with the sport.”
At last year’s World Championships in Lanzarote, Wilson won 15 of the 20 races but still had to settle for silver behind Kantor in the medal race. Besides the new Olympic sport of kitesurfing, windsurfing is the only sailing class to adopt the new format.
Wilson had surged through the qualifying races, only once coming outside the top three, and beating eventual gold medallist Maggetti in all but one of the previous races. When the final series of qualifying races were abandoned due to light winds on Thursday, she earned her ticket straight to the final.
Less than half an hour before the medal race, Kantor and Maggetti finished first and second respectively in a semi-final staged over the same course. They chose a different line to Wilson halfway through the final, and Wilson ultimately crossed the line over half a minute behind the winner.
“I just made a mistake on the lay line,” added Wilson, referring to the calculation required to reach the next mark, or buoy, in the quickest time. “I hadn’t done a race yet and all these girls knew where the lay line was.
“These girls are amazing, Marta’s an amazing friend and sailor and it couldn’t have gone to a nicer person. I’m really happy for her but I’m just not sure I can keep putting myself through that format.
“I just hope I can inspire some kids. What I’ve done this week, I feel like I’ve shown that you can dominate a sport and if you show them that you can work hard and that’s what happens, that’s a win. I’d love to go home with gold medal but I suppose bronze will have to do.”
A World Sailing spokesman told the PA news agency: “The decision was made following a recommendation by the World Sailing events committee, and voted on by the World Sailing council, which is comprised of elected officials from national sailing federations.”
Wilson’s team-mate Sam Sills, who qualified for the quarter-finals in fifth place, battled through to the semi-finals where he finished fourth and last and did not advance to the final.
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