Sailors win historic double

NANJING — Singapore’s young sailors Samantha Yom and Bernie Chin yesterday won their respective women’s and men’s Byte CII events at the Youth Olympics in Nanjing to deliver Singapore’s first gold medals in the short history of the quadrennial Games.

The two 15-year-olds went into yesterday’s final races in medal positions — Samantha in second place and Bernie in the lead — having endured two days of waiting after racing at Jinniu Lake was called off on Friday and Saturday because of a lack of wind. In the end, it was probably the light wind conditions at the competition venue in Nanjing that played into the hands of Singapore’s sailors, as these were similar to what they were used to in training at the waters off East Coast Park.

While both races were flagged off concurrently, Samantha finished her race earlier, coming second to Uruguay’s Dolores Moreira Fraschini. Odile van Aanholt of the Netherlands had led the event by four points going into the final, but her seventh place was not enough for the 16-year-old to hang on to the overall victory.

While Van Aanholt had won two of the eight races of the series, which featured a fleet of 30, Samantha’s consistency was the key as she picked up four runner-up spots, a third and a fifth place that counted to the final tally, as she edged out Van Aanholt 27-28 to become Singapore’s first Youth Olympic gold medallist.

Said Samantha: “In this regatta, it is really important to be consistent throughout and keep my motivation high to constantly perform at my best. I always tell myself there is room for improvement and there is a lot more to fight back. I am really happy that I gave my all and did Singapore proud. The final race was rather intense, but what I did is just to focus on myself and the rest will fall into place.”

Team-mate Bernie ensured Majulah Singapura would ring out twice in Nanjing as he completed his final race in fifth place for a total of 38 points, though crucially ahead of his challengers. Bernie’s nearest challenger at the start of the day, Brazil’s Pedro Luiz Marcondes Correa, could manage only 14th to fall to sixth place overall.

That gave Bernie a comfortable win over Portugal’s Rodolfo Pires, who took silver with 47 points, with bronze going to Jonatan Vadnai of Hungary (50).

After a dismal opening day last Monday when he picked up a 21st place and a technical infringement in his second race for a maximum 31 points, the gold medal capped an amazing comeback for Bernie, who did not finish lower than fifth place for his subsequent six races — including two wins.

“I feel very happy to be able to come back after the disappointing first day,” he said. “I want to thank my coach for supporting me and encouraging me even though I did really badly on the first day, and I am very happy to bring this medal back to Singapore.”

Singapore National Olympic Council president and Minister of Manpower Tan Chuan-Jin lauded the sailors for their gold-medal efforts.

“Bernie had a difficult start but he kept fighting and climbing up the ranking instead of being discouraged,” he noted. “Sam shared that conditions were tricky. She entered the final race in second position but won gold. It’s not just skills but resilience and fighting spirit over the few days. Well done!” Additional reporting by PHILIP GOH