Olympics sailing descends into chaos as athletes ‘cross wrong finish line’ leaving fans stunned by result

BIZARRE scenes unfolded in an Olympics sailing race as the leaders crossed the wrong finish line but still won gold thanks to a little-known rule.

There was huge controversy and drama in yesterday’s women’s skiff medal race, which left BBC commentator Niall Myant in disbelief.

BBC

BBC

BBC

Alamy

Holland duo Odile van Aanholt and Annette Duetz were cruising to victory ahead of the United States and Sweden as they were on the home straight.

But disaster struck for the Dutch as they got confused to where the finish line was.

Instead of continuing straight on, they drifted to the right and sailed beyond the wrong committee boat, seemingly unaware the end position had been changed.

Holland came to a stop before and a perplexed look could be seen on Van Aanholt and Duetz’s faces as they realised their error.

Team USA ended up following them to the wrong place – but Sweden knew where they were going and appeared to finish first.

They were followed home by France and then the lost Dutch.

An anxious wait followed as the officials worked out what had gone on.

Myant on commentary said: “Where are they going? The finish line is marked on the left-hand side.

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“I think they think they’ve finished and there is some confusion about the course.

“America also make the mistake and this is huge. What on Earth has happened here?

“I am stunned to what has happened on the water. Unbelievable scenes .”

Eventually, Holland were awarded the gold medal , with Sweden taking silver and France in bronze.

Despite making the same mistake as the Dutch, USA finished tenth.

Holland were awarded the gold due to their points total in the heats although they crossed the line in the final in third.

Fans were left baffled by the rules , with one saying: “Netherlands went the wrong way and crossed the finish line after Sweden but given the gold?”

Another added: “Lol Netherlands and America went the wrong way in the sailing.”

On the mix up, Van Aanholt said: “When we crossed the finish line we thought we won gold, but we didn’t hear the horn.”

When asked if she thought the Dutch had missed out on the gold medal, she replied: “Yes, definitely.”

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Follow all the action as it unfolds with our Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE blog .