Golden debut
Matt Wearn has won an Olympic gold medal in the Men’s Laser at Tokyo 2020.
02 August 2021
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Australian sailor Matt Wearn has won gold in the Men’s One Person Dinghy on his Olympic debut, securing the country’s third consecutive gold medal in the category.
“It has been quite a long journey and a particularly stressful week. It wasn’t the ideal start to a regatta, so I couldn’t have felt better than locking away a gold medal before the Medal Race,” Wearn told Australian Sailing.
Wearn’s campaign at Tokyo 2020 had shaky beginnings, finishing with a 17th and 28th in his first two races. However the 25-year-old Fremantle Sailing Club member secured six consecutive top-four finishes from the mid-stages of the regatta onwards.
By Friday 31 July, Wearn had secured an insurmountable 22 point lead with a race to spare, only needing to finish, or to not be disqualified, to ensure the gold medal.
In 2012, Tom Slingsby secured gold in the Olympic’s Men’s One Person Dinghy, followed by Tom Burton in 2016.
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“Quite a thrill to get it done early,” said Wearn’s Coach and Sydney 2000 Olympic Laser bronze medalist Michael Blackburn.
Blackburn was also the Coach of Slingsby in 2012 and Burton in 2016.
“It has been a goal of mine to have someone win the regatta before the Medal Race, which can be a bit iffy sometimes. To get it done in such a good style and quite unexpectedly is quite the thrill.”
“Matt was the kind of sailor you would want to work with as a coach, someone who truly is passionate about the sport and continual improvement,” added Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS)’s Sailing Head Coach Belinda Stowell Brett.
Wearn secured WAIS Scholarship in 2010, five years after he began sailing at Fremantle Sailing Club.
Australia’s Men’s 470 team of Mat Belcher and Will Ryan are also on a promising path, currently with a 19-point lead heading into the final day of fleet races, scheduled for 2 August.
“We felt like we were in a really good rhythm, so all you want to do is try to keep it going,” said Belcher, who secured gold in the Men’s 470 at London 2012 Games and Silver with Ryan at the Rio 2016.
“We don’t usually have days off at a regatta, so we had a lot of time to think. To come away with a [first] and [second] today is something we are really proud of.”
Elsewhere, Australia’s Nacra 17 team of Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin currently sit in fourth, and Finn sailor Jake Lilley is in seventh-place.
Both have qualified for their Medal Races on 3 August.
The sailing component of the Olympic Games continues with the final two fleet races in the Men’s and Women’s 470 and the Medal Races for the 49er and 49erFX classes. All of these races will be streaming live on 7Plus.
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