By Tom Harle
Leicester sailor John Gimson hopes the ringing of wedding bells can drown out the devastating impact of his disqualification from the Olympic Games.
Gimson and Anna Burnet, partners on and off the water who will marry next month, were on course for the bronze medal and were ready to aim for a place on the podium in the decisive race for the double points.
But an early mistake saw them cross the start line illegally at the start of the race and be disqualified, ending their hopes of a medal in the mixed multihull event in Marseille Marina.
They scored the maximum possible 22 points in the medal race and fell back to fourth place.
“It’s very, very brutal,” Gimson said.
“This is probably the most brutal way to lose. At the start I felt like I was so in control of myself, knowing the plan and where the other boats were.
“I made a mistake and it cost us an Olympic medal. So you can imagine we’re pretty broken.”
Gimson and Burnet were overtaken by New Zealanders Erica Wilkinson and Erica Dawson.
Gold went to the pair’s Team GB training partners Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti from Italy, while Argentinians Mateo Majdalani and Eugenia Boscow took silver.
Gimson and Burnet have won a medal in every single World and European Championship regatta since their Olympic silver in Tokyo, which makes the disappointment even greater.
“It’s devastating right now, but we can just be proud of what we’ve done,” Burnet said.
“That’s sport, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, and it didn’t work for us. But we sailed really well. We have to thank those who got us here and the National Lottery, what a journey it’s been.”
Gimson added: “We try not to judge ourselves by the results. We judge ourselves by whether we feel we gave it our all and how well we handled the details of the week.”
“I’m incredibly proud of how we sailed this week. It was a really tough week from a sailing perspective and we achieved more every day and put ourselves in the medal positions in the medal race.”
“I am so proud of our campaign. We have no regrets, we gave it our all and it is what it is.”
Gimson and Burnet will marry next month, with the former being particularly responsible for the wedding bar.
“There is no one I would rather spend this whole journey with,” Burnet said. “We are so lucky to be able to do this together.”
“We go through ups and downs together. There’s life and there’s sport, and right now they feel a little bit separate. Sport has been brutal, but life goes on and we’re getting married in a month – life is going to be great.”
Follow the British Sailing Team in Paris 2024 on Instagram at @britishsailing and on www.britishsailingteam.com
