New Europe, a 60-foot IMOCA sailboat under the Hungarian flag, completed the challenge named after the Fastnet rock, coming in 25th.Continue reading
With an amazing performance, Mária Érdi won a gold medal in the former Laser, now called ILCA category, at the World Sailing Championships in The Hague, Netherlands – reports Mandiner.
The Hungarian sailor had already clinched her Paris quota on Saturday when she finished third in the double sculls medal race. The MVM SE athlete finished third on Sunday, and with this result she jumped into the lead, ahead of Maud Jayet of Switzerland, who also won silver at last year’s World Championships, and Olympic champion Anne-Marie Rindom of Denmark.
Mária Érdi made a great start to the World Championships, leading after two races and then leading after four and six races. She then slipped back to second and third before the medal race. Bronze medalist at the European Championships in March, and two-time Olympian,
Mária Érdi is the first Hungarian woman to win a World Championship title in an Olympic class.
Mária Érdi, Gold Medalist in the ILCA category at the World Sailing Championships in The Hague. Photo: Sailing Energy / World Sailing, via Facebook/Team Hungary
“I knew so much that it would not be an easy race. I did not dare to think beforehand what it would be like to win the World Championships in The Hague. Step by step, my coach and I put together this world championship. We got the Olympic quota, but the hardest part was the medal race. I had to race in light winds, but I did it, I did it. I am very happy and very grateful to fate that I was able to experience this. After the medal race, my friends and some of the field waited for me on the shore and pulled me out of the water – boat and all.
What I feel is indescribable,”
said Érdi, according to her team.
Friends and some of the field pulling Mária Érdi out of the water, after Winning the Sailing World Championships. Photo: Sailing Energy / World Sailing, via Facebook/Team Hungary
Zsombor Berecz, who will take over as national captain with Ian Ainsli from the beginning of July, told MTI that he meant a medal when he said before the World Championships that he expected something big from Érdi.
“I know exactly what she has been through because her career has been similar to mine.
In a good way, this World Championship is a breaking point, the world has opened up for her. From now on it will be a completely different situation, it is completely different to sail in a field as world champion,”
said the Tokyo Olympic silver medalist. He added that Érdi competed very calmly in Sunday’s medal race.
The World Championships, which take place every four years and are comprised of ten classes, plus classes for disabled sailors, attract more than 1,200 competitors, and most of the places in Paris have been sold out.
Featured image: Facebook/Team Hungary