“I survived. I'm happy I ended up with my third medal; I won the first two in the Laser class,” said he Slovenian sailing champion after the race.
By winning medals at three different Olympics, the 40-year-old native of Izola has joined Slovenia's Olympic sporting legends. Only such champions as Leon Štukelj, Iztok Čop, Luka Špik and Rajmond Debevec had managed this feat before him.
Happy to have concluded his career this way
“This was it. Given my age, I would have a hard time competing against my younger rivals, so this is the end for me. But I'm glad I finished my career like this – with a medal I didn't expect. That's why this achievement is even sweeter -- even more so because I won it in a different class than last time. I don't know if there are five competitors in total who can claim this. Every medal is a sweet victory in its own way – the first was special because it was the first and it helped us to improve our financial situation. The second one served as a confirmation of sorts, while the third one came in a different class, for which I had to put on weight. I now weigh 20 kilos more than I did in Beijing, and I'm going on a diet starting tomorrow. I weighed 76 kilos in Beijing; I weighed 100 here just before the Games, and I now weigh 95 kilos,” said Žbogar.
Fifth time at the games; third time with a medal
"Vasco da Isola" took the bronze at the 2004 Athens Games in the Laser class, and he won the silver in Beijing in 2008, also in Laser. He then switched to the higher, more challenging Finn class, where he again came close to winning a medal with his sixth-place finish at the 2012 London Games. Vasilij Žbogar made his Olympic debut in Sydney, where he was 19th in the Laser class.
This was Slovenia's fourth medal at the Rio Games. Tina Trstenjak claimed the gold in judo, Peter Kauzer took the silver in kayak, and Ana Velenšek took the bronze, also in judo.