A pity, for if it had not been for Tuesday’s disqualification, the Slovenian team would have been celebrating an Olympic medal right now. Tina and Veronika, both hailing from Slovenia’s coastal region, were in third position after Tuesday’s three regattas. However, right after the races the Japanese team filed and won a protest against Mrak and Macarol. The Slovenian team is of the opinion that the penalty against them was completely unjustified. The judges believed the account of the Japanese team, even though there was no video evidence to support it.
Won with an advantage of 19 seconds
The furious Mrak and Macarol were flawless in the final medals race. They were fourth sailing past the first buoy, they then climbed to third position, and they took over the lead at the third buoy. They finished the race 19 seconds ahead of the second-placed Dutch team. New Zealand came in third. The U.S. team was most unfortunate finishing last in 10th position, and thus slipping from being third overall to seventh.
Medals for Great Britain, New Zealand and France
The British Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark secured the Olympic title even before the final race. They crossed the finish line eighth in a controlled race. Silver went to the previous Olympic champions Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie from New Zealand, while the bronze went to Camile Lecointre and Helene Defrance of France. The Dutch team finished fourth overall and the Japanese, which spoiled it all for the Slovenians, ended up fifth. Yesterday’s victory in the final race counted double points, but could only push Mrak and Macarol up to sixth place overall.
Mrak: We proved that we were unfairly stripped off a medal
"We proved that we belong at the top and that we were unfairly stripped of a medal. The taste is clearly bitter, but there is nothing we can do about it and the medals have already been given out. We knew that we had no realistic chance, but we did everything we could to try fulfill the theoretic chances we did have. We took a risk, we kept to the left as we agreed, but the results of the other teams did not play to our advantage. Clearly, we’re disappointed. We came to win a medal and we failed to do it. But we won’t let this influence our careers, which we will talk about when we get home," said Mrak. The Slovenians also said they will not become friends with the Japanese team, which they blame for their disqualification: "Well, no, we won’t try to drown them or anything like that, but it is a satisfaction to know that they too did not win a medal."
