So near and yet so far
by Mark Jardine & Andi Robertson 6 Aug 20:01 BST
6 August 2024
Vita Heathcote/Chris Grube - GBR - Mixed 470 - Day 8 - Marseille - Paris2024 Olympic Regatta - August 4, 2024 © World Sailing / Lloyd Images
In dinghy sailing at the Paris 2024 Olympics, the first target is to make the top ten, so that you can compete in the double points Medal Race. Every point counts... literally.
For the British Mixed Dinghy 470 team of Vita Heathcote and Chris Grube it was just one point that separated them from that goal, and they were inched out by the Brazilian team of Henrique Duarte Haddad and Isabel Swan, who won what was to be the final race of the Open Series.
Crew Chris 'Twiggy; Grube, who is competing in his third Olympics, and campaigned a 470 with Veta's uncle Nick Rogers back in 2012, summed up his feelings:
"It is always a horrible thing when you don't quite achieve what you wanted to at the Games, which doesn't mean we did not fight all the way, but we are proud of what we have done, second at the Worlds and then putting in our best efforts."
For helm Vita Heathcote this is her first Games:
"I think it has been such a hard week and has kind of numbed it a bit just now. There is a certain acceptance, but we did all that we could. I would not have changed anything that we did in terms of preparation. But right now it is kind of numbed, I don't feel the emotion of it all. You can't knock what we did in terms of preparation, but I'm thinking right now we did all we could, and it was not our week."
Finding and managing emotions, and going through the 'what if' scenarios is always difficult straight after disappointment, but Grube kept things in perspective:
"If there had been some breeze it could have been a very different story, but I think we put our best foot forwards and unfortunately it was not enough.
"I said before there would not be another 470 campaign and so probably there won't be another."
Heathcote is proud of everything they've done and what they've achieved:
"I think my biggest takeaway is the mindset of having gone into [the Games] being happy with what we had done, we enjoyed it and stayed together as a team. I am proud of what we did."
For the USA's Stu McNay, who is competing at his fifth Olympics, a disappointing final day with 18th and 12th place finishes meant they finished in 13th overall, just 6 points off the top ten:
"It was tough out there. We kind of lost track of the wind shifts at times. This is the end of our condensed campaign. We had a good year and a half run and made it to the Games. We had greater hopes in terms of results. Probably on a personal level we both feel like we could have performed better, but we have some great takeaways. Usually tricky sailing works out just fine for me, but this week we just did not really find our rhythm and that happens."
Crew Lara Dallman-Weiss added:
"Oh man, it is kind of like that is what we find in our sport. You work your heart out, you give everything to the campaign, and now you are emotional."
The margins are so fine at this level, and sport can be so cruel, but just getting to the Games is a monumental achievement.
Once an Olympian, always an Olympian.