‘I shed tears of joy with my coach, my wife, and my child‘
Cypriot dinghy sailor Pavlos Kontides won a silver medal at the Olympic Games on Wednesday, finishing second in the medal race in the French city of Marseille to secure overall second place behind Australian Matt Wearn.
Wearn’s win in the medal race ensured he would win back-to-back Olympic gold medals, having triumphed in the same event in Japan in 2021. Kontides’ silver medal is the second of his career, having achieved the same feat in the British town of Weymouth at the 2012 games.
Stefano Peschiera of Peru won the bronze medal.
Kontides and Wearn embraced at the end of a race which was described by observers as “emotionally exhausting”.
Speaking after winning the medal, Kontides said, “thank you to all of Cyprus for the love and the energy.”
“I had everything shut down to stay focused and I am sure an outpouring of love will follow. The feelings are fantastic. I shed tears of joy with my coach, my wife, and my child. I had to play a game of patience in the race. There are some things in life which make you very proud.
“I knew I had a chance for gold, but the pain of Tokyo, I knew what it means to be fourth. The pain is far greater than the joy of gold. So, if I had to choose between taking a chance on the gold or choosing to get silver or bronze, I would always choose to get a medal,” he said.
Wearn was also ecstatic after pipping Kontides to the gold, telling Australian television station Channel 9 he felt “phenomenal” after winning the final race.
“It’s just phenomenal, the fact that no one else has won back-to-back gold medals before particularly shows just how special it is, for me to be the first person to do that, it really hits home,” he said.
He also spoke on the “stressful” and “frustrating” nature of the delays and the abandoned race which took place earlier in the day.
“I had two great starts, I had Pavlos behind where I wanted him. Once it got abandoned, there was a little moment of frustration, but then a restart and the knowledge I just had to give it another go,” he said.
Celebrating Kontides’ triumph, the Cyprus Olympic Committee pointed out that he is only the sixth athlete in the history of his discipline to win multiple Olympic medals.
They also pointed out that all 14,000 tickets to the event had been sold out.
“Pavlos’ first goal was to secure a medal, any medal. Pavlos made a huge effort not to be mentally affected by the waiting and postponements [caused by a lack of wind], and he did so by finishing behind the Australian Wearn, who, admittedly, had an excellent race all day,” they said.
The silver medal moves Cyprus up to 63rd place in the 2024 Olympic medal table.
Cyprus now sits above much larger countries in the table, India, Austria, Egypt, Indonesia, and Iran.
President Nikos Christodoulides was among the first to congratulate Kontides on his triumph.
“Today is a historic day for our country and its sports, since our champion Pavlos Kontides won for the second time a silver medal at the Olympic Games,” he began.
“I want to express the Cypriot people’s feelings of deep emotion and joy at the feat of our champion, who once again has raised Cypriot sports to the highest level of world sport. Pavlos Kontides has made Cyprus proud, and we are all deeply grateful for his excellent achievement,” he said.
Sports Minister Athena Michaelidou also offered her congratulations to Kontides, saying, “you made us proud again with your immense effort, Pavlos. A silver medal for you and for our little Cyprus!”
Later in the evening, former first lady and former European Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou said Kontides “fought hard and succeeded” and expressed her pride that “the Cypriot flag will fly once again at the Olympics”.
House President Annita Demetriou also congratulated Kontides for his silver medal.
“Cyprus is proud! On the podium at the biggest celebration of sports, out homeland was once again brought to the top by our Olympic silver medalist Pavlos Kontides,” she said.
She also offered her “warm congratulations” to the other Cypriot athletes who took part in this year’s Olympics, “for the hard work they put in and continue to put in, and I wish every success for those who will continue to compete.”
Kontides had initially received a stroke of luck when the medal race was initially abandoned due to a lack of wind just as any chance of a medal seemed to be slipping from his grasp.
He had been penalised for an infringement at the start of the ninth and final race of the event and, after starting the day in an overall second place, looked set to forfeit his silver medal to Great Britain’s Michael Beckett.
Peschiera was the only other person who could deprive Kontides of a place on the podium and also looked to be on the verge of doing so.
However, the elements stepped in to save Kontides’ bacon, with the wind dropping enough to see the race abandoned.
This year’s Olympic dinghy racing has been plagued by delays, with low winds in and off the coast of Marseille, the Mediterranean French city where the event is being held, causing constant delays to the competition.