Series 2 - Ep8 - Olympic Stories Part 2

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Part 2 of this month's Podcast sees double Olympic gold medalist Shirley Robertson go back to her sailing roots as she talks about success and failure with three very different multiple Olympic medallists. T

This edition kicks off with one of the podcast's most requested interviews, as Shirley discusses the remarkable Olympic history with reigning NACRA 17 Olympic champion Santiago Lange of Argentina.  Santi discuses the delay in the Games, and how the postponement is effecting his build up, before delving into that incredible Olympic history.  Lange has competed at six Olympics, Tokyo will be his seventh campaign, but it was his gold medal win in Rio that is perhaps the most remarkable of Olympic success stories.

Just a year before the Olympic Regatta, Lange was diagnosed with lung cancer, and underwent surgery that put his Olympic dreams in severe doubt, but still managed to sail to victory in what was one of the most popular medal wins of all time.

It wasn't until 1988, at the Korea Games, that sailing held it's first ever dedicated Women's Class, sailed in the 470 dinghy.  In dramatic and challenging conditions, it was American Lynne Jewel Shore and her helm Allison Jolly that took the win, claiming the only gold medal for an otherwise disappointed US Sailing Team.  In her interview with Robertson, Lynne reflects fondly of a rigorous and intense build up to the Games, as the duo tried to prepare for the treacherous Korean conditions...

"I can't watch the footage, I look at it and I think 'what the heck were we doing out there', it really was dangerous conditions, it was crazy.  I went there feeling very comfortable and confident that we had done everything we could to be prepared for the moment."

Three of Robertson's interviewees have had their Tokyo 2020 Olympic campaigns completely disrupted by the postponement of the Games to 2021.  The podcast wraps up with defending 49er Olympic Champion Blair Tuke, discussing how the postponement allows full concentration on the defence of the America's Cup, and talks about the logistics of running simultaneous Cup and Games campaigns.  He delves into his partnership with Pete Burling, how the pair won silver in London 2012, and then didnt lose another regatta, all the way through to claiming gold in Rio by an unprecedented Olympic points margin.

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