Pavlos Kontides confirmed his presence in the elite of world sailing, at the Adelaide World Championships, finishing in the top six for the tenth consecutive major event.
The 34-year-old sailor finished fourth in the medal race and gained one place in the overall standings, moving up to sixth. Reaching 79 penalty points he overtook Frenchman Jean Baptiste Bernaz (86b.), who was ninth in the medal race.
“I saw many positive things in this race, it’s the Olympic year and it’s very encouraging for the rest of the year.
“I’m sure that if the Worlds started now, the result would be better, but this stability that has prevailed in recent years makes me very happy. Even though it was not my week I managed to place in the top positions and show off our Cyprus,” Kontides said.
Things could have been better for Kontides if he had not lost significant ground in the first races.
“It seemed that the athletes who spent a lot of time here, acclimatized with the conditions, how the wind behaves and the technique with the prevailing waves.
“We had to understand the behaviour of the wind, and once we did understand it the results were better in the finals than in the qualification, which is usually upside down,” Kontides said.
In Adelaide the Championship differed from the last major events, where the races are now 45-50 minutes long and lasted 10-15 minutes longer, as the races used to be.
“Someone will think okay 10-15 minutes, but at this intensity, 10-15′ is enough fatigue, let alone seven days in a row with eleven races”, said the 2017 and 2018 World Champion Gold medallist.
Kontides’ streak started in April 2022, when he finished sixth at the World Cup in the Trofeo Princesa Sofia. He had won the World Cup in Hyeres in April the same year, while he also took gold at the European Championships at the same venue in November.
In between, in May, he came second at the World Championships in Mexico.
This was followed in March 2023 by a bronze medal at the European Championships in Andora (Italy) and a fourth place at the 52 Trofeo Prinseca Sofia.
In April, he climbed the podium again, finishing third at the World Cup in Hyeres, and he took the same place at the Test Event of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which took place in July. Last season had ended with a sixth-place finish at the World Championships in The Hague, where he secured a ticket to next summer’s Olympic Games in Paris.
The Adelaide World Championships were won on home soil by Matt Wearn (24b). The Australian was already in first place and sealed his victory by winning the medal race as well. Second in today’s (31/01) race and overall was Norway’s Hermann Tomasgaard (34b), with Britain’s Michael Beckett coming fifth in the medal race and staying in third place.
For Kontides, after the Adelaide event, he will probably not take part in the European Championships in Athens in February and will focus on the two World Cups in Palma and Hyeres in April. Of course, the big goal for the “London 2012” Olympic silver medallist is the “Paris 2024” Olympic Games.
