Gibbs and Weis take strangle hold of Olympic qualifying berth
American’s Riley Gibbs and Anna Weis won all four races on the day, to sit in gold medal position at the Pan Am Games. They dominated the day and now have a 32 point lead on the second best placing team from North America.
According to Weis, their success on the water is thanks to the recent improvements she and Gibbs have made together, “We’re improving every day as a team. Our speed and communication felt really good today. I think little improvements like that are what has made the difference in helping us do well.”
Their performance is even more impressive when considering that just eight weeks ago, it was possible that the pair would be unable to compete due to injuries. “Recently, I had a bi-lateral fasciotomy, which is, at a super basic level, surgery on both of my arms,” said Weis. “Despite my expected recovery time being somewhat up in the air, I thankfully rebounded pretty quickly and was lucky enough to be able to sail this event.” After Gibbs and Weis finish racing at the Pan American Games, they will head directly to Japan for the Ready Steady Tokyo Olympic Test Event. (Source US Sailing Newsletter)
Olympic Impact
The top teams from each of North and South America will each win for their countries an Olympic qualification berth. With 10 teams competing, five from each hemisphere, it’s a critical competition for these sailors and nations as they vie for Tokyo 2020
After a slow start to the Pan Am Games from Paracas, Peru, things really got going with four races for the Nacra 17 fleet on the third day of competition. To catch up to schedule, there were four races for the fleet, which will surely have favored the more experienced and physically fitter teams.
In the South American battle, Brazil and Argentina both sailed well cleaning up all of the second and third place results on the day, and sit tied with each other both 8 points behind the American’s. However, both of these nations qualified at Aarhus 2020, so the next teams from South America are the ones looking to qualify, and they’re in a tight battle. Uruguay and Peru are in fourth and fifth overall, on 31 and 32 points respectively, so will continue to fight for the remaining berth.
Assuming the American’s hold on for win, all is not lost for the four remaining teams from North America. Because this continental qualifying regatta is out of sequence with the Olympic qualifying schedule, if America is within the top 3 unqualified nations in Auckland 2019 World Championship, then the next highest placing team would get the spot.
It’s been quite hard to follow along with #Lima2019 so far, with no proper results table, photos, or daily reports. You can keep up with the daily happenings here, and there will be live tracking during the medal races to conclude the regatta. Of course, we’ll add what we can to the 49er and Nacra 17 pages as we find things.
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