Olympian Vishnu wins gold at Europa Cup 2024 sailing event in Spain

MUMBAI: India's Olympian sailor Vishnu Saravanan, who has already bagged a quota place for the upcoming Paris Olympic Games, has won the gold medal in the men’s one-person dinghy (ILCA7) category at the Europa Cup 2024 sailing meet held in Mallorca, Spain.

Saravanan, who represented the country in the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021 and finished 20th, topped the 91-boat race with 17 net points. The Netherlands’ Willem Wiersema also accrued the same points but Saravanan won the category on technicality.

Australia’s Lawson McAullay won the bronze with 22 net points at the event, organised by the Reial Club Nautic Port de Pollenca.

Saravanan finished first in two of his seven races at the meet. In the Olympic year, this year’s Europa Cup saw a huge turnout with 334 sailors competing under challenging conditions with wind speeds ranging from 15 to +30 knots throughout the three-day competition.

In January this year, Saravanan became the first Indian to secure a sailing quota for the Paris 2024 Olympics, doing so at the ILCA 7 Men's World Championship 2024 in Australia this January.

The ILCA7 is a category within the ILCA (International Laser Class Association) sailing class. The Laser Standard is a small, lightweight boat with a single mast.

Last year, he also secured the bronze medal at the Asian Games in Hangzhou.