Britain’s Ellie Aldridge became the first Olympic gold medallist in kitesurfing with a brilliant performance in Marseille.
The discipline, which involves competitors flying above the water at up to 40 knots powered by huge kites, is making its Games debut and the 27-year-old Aldridge, from Dorset, powered her way to gold by winning two races in the final series on Thursday.
The success salvages what had been a hugely disappointing regatta for Britain in one of its traditionally strongest medal sports, with Emma Wilson’s bronze in windsurfing the only previous medal.
Light winds have made it a very frustrating fortnight for the sailors, with numerous races delayed and cancelled. The men’s final has been postponed until Friday as the competitors were not able to start by the designated time.
Aldridge went into the final tied on points with France’s Lauriane Nolot but behind her on countback after failing even to reach the start line in the last race.
Three wins are needed in the final series for an athlete to secure gold, but the leader begins with two wins and second place with one, so it So it was all or nothing for Aldridge in the opening bout.
She handled it perfectly, leading virtually from start to finish to tie things up, and Aldridge, the world silver medallist, was even more dominant in the second race, with Nolot falling off her board early on and putting herself out of contention. Aldridge was able to cruise to the finish line before celebrating her moment of history.
“I still can’t believe it, really it’s crazy,” Aldridge said. “Today was all about winning races, if you don’t win the races then you’re not going to win so that’s how I approached the day. We haven’t had the easiest conditions and it’s been tricky but it’s been really cool and I hope everyone watching on TV thinks the same thing. It’s been incredible.”
A crowd gathered at Parkstone Yacht Club in Poole, Dorset, where Aldridge first tried out sailing as a child.
She took up the sport only six years ago, but quickly began to show her talent, competing in the European championships in 2019 before becoming a world championships medallist in 2021 and then winning silver at an Olympic test event last year.
Her former coach Oli Woodcock said: “Ellie is someone that just loves being active, being outside and being on the water. So she’s really embraced kite foiling, she was always on the water and it was always a struggle to sometimes get her to have a rest day.
“She’s always out there and learning and throwing herself into everything.”