Olympics medal race dramatically abandoned as BBC commentators admit they've 'never seen anything like it'

An Olympic race featuring two Team GB athletes was abandoned on Thursday afternoon, with the BBC commentary team claiming they had "never seen anything like it."

The men's skiff medal race in Marseille was abandoned on two separate occasions after officials decided that there was not a sufficient amount wind to complete the 10-boat double-points race.

Diego Botin and Florian Trittel of Spain had taken an early lead but when they rapidly dropped places on leg two, the blue and white chequered flag was raised, signalling the race to stop.

Uruguayan boat of Hernan Umpierre and Fernando Diz were leading when officials decided to stop the race.

"It appears that the course directors are actually going to move the course to a different section of the bay, with competition due to re-start sometime after 15:20 local," said the Olympics' official website. "We'll keep you posted."

For a SECOND time, the medal race of the men's skiff sailing has been abandoned due to a lack of wind in Marseille. 😬#BBCOlympics #Olympics #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/KdHF8qiw5k

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 1, 2024

Organisers tried to find wind on the course but after the race was restarted, the Olympic committee once again abandoned proceedings before the men’s skiff medal race was officially postponed until tomorrow [Friday, 2 August].

That means Team GB pair Fynn Sterritt and James Peters, who qualified for the final race in seventh place, will have to be patient in their pursuit of gold.

Sterritt and Peters, who won European bronze in 2022, briefly moved up to sixth, while Ireland's Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove will start again in second place.

"I cannot remember a time when they have had to abandon the medal race," said the BBC commentator. "And it's just happened twice! The wind just evaporated off the course."

The women’s skiff medal race, meanwhile, will not include Team GB’s Freya Black and Saskia Tidey, who finished their 12 races in 16th.

Emma Wilson will go into the penultimate day of the women’s windsurfing top of the standings after Wednesday’s marathon double points race was abandoned.