Austria’s Lukas Maehr and Lara Vadlau defied expectations as they claimed the country’s first sailing gold medal in 20 years at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Roman Hagara and Hans-Peter Steinacher were the last Austrians to strike gold at an Olympics, topping the Tornado class in both Sydney in 2000 and Athens in 2004.
Maehr and Vadlau clinched first position in the sailing mixed dinghy event ahead of Japan’s Miho Yoshioka and Keiju Okada in second, while Lovisa Karlsson and Anton Dahlberg of Sweden finished third.
“Our goal was always to win a medal,” said Maehr. “We just wanted to sail a very good Medal Race like we’ve done all week. There was pressure to perform every day, so it was a hugely emotional moment for us to be in front at the end.”