New Zealand’s mixed multihull (nacra) team have worked their way into a strong position with only three races remaining in their Paris Olympics sailing event.
Micah Wilkinson and Erica Dawson had finishes of second, fourth and ninth on Monday (Tuesday NZ Time) in Marseille, to sit tied for second with Argentina on 28 points after nine of 12 races.
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Italy lead with just 14 points and will be hard to overhaul, but a medal is a definite prospect for the New Zealanders.
It was a day when many races were cancelled, but Justina Kitchen in the women’s kite had one outing, finishing 18th to lie in 15th position after five races.
Lukas Walton-Keim in the men’s kite got on the water once and was 17th so that at this stage he lies in 15th position.
Tom Saunders' outside medal chances took another hit when neither race 9 or 10 of the men's dinghy competition was able to be raced. Sitting seventh, he will make Tuesday's medal race but a medal is now highly unlikely.
Greta Pilkington’s women’s dinghy campaign ended when she finished 40th and ended 34th overall.
Kiwi Sarah Tetzlaff recorded a personal best time of 8.39 seconds in qualifying on Monday, but was unable to progress past the elimination heats as sport climbing made its Olympic debut.
In the qualifying round, Tetzlaff returned performances of 8.39 and 8.64, which ranked her 12th of the 14 competitors.
Into the elimination heats, she faced the daunting task of taking on third-seeded Poland climber Aleksandra Kalucka. The New Zealander again climbed right up to her best, with 8.41, but was outclassed by Kalucka, who raced up the wall in 6.65.
The 24-year-old Tauranga-based Tetzlaff was “pretty stoked” with her Oceania record climb.
“It was a cool result under that pressure. A lot of work went into it over all these months ... I feel I could have gone a bit faster, but were solid climbs. I was happy with how I went.”
Tayla Ford was eliminated from the women’s 68kg freestyle wrestling when she went down 6-0 VPO (victory by under nine points where the losing wrestler does not score) to well-performed Frenchwoman Koumba Larroque in her first bout on Monday.
Ford, 31, claimed Commonwealth Games wrestling medals in 2014 and 2022, and acquitted herself well.
The third-seeded Larroque was extremely quick and was able to use her superior technique to build points over the two rounds. It was not all one-way traffic though, and Ford’s strength kept her in the contest.