Under clear blue skies in Marseille, France, Japanese sailing duo Keiju Okada and Miho Yoshioka exploded with joy as they clinched a silver medal in the high-pressure mixed dinghy medal race — equaling Japan’s best-ever result in sailing.
Okada let out a scream, pumping his fists, while Yoshioka flung her arms up in the air in triumph.
At the start, the Japanese team took a bold move by heading left, opposite to the leading Austrian and Spanish teams. But Okada, who was at the helm, had a hunch.
“I chose the wind I wanted,” he said. “You have to trust yourself.”
His intuition proved correct, as Japan caught favorable winds and maintained its position in the top group, while Spain faltered, bringing the Japanese pair further up the leaderboard.
The pair made the most of the lessons learned in the previous rounds. They initially led the standings despite strong winds, a challenge they had struggled with during the first two days.
However, by the third day, concerns over the score gap with the leading teams led them to follow the same route as their competitors, a decision Okada later described as a “huge mistake.” This misstep dropped them to third place overall.
Before the final race, Yoshioka suggested a safer strategy to protect their position to achieve a medal, but ultimately, the two decided to rely on the “wind-reading genius” Okada’s instinct.
Both Okada and Yoshioka had finished seventh in the separate men’s and women’s 470 classes at the Tokyo Olympics. For the Paris Olympics, the event was unified into a mixed 470 class, leading them to team up with the goal of winning gold.
Although initially struggling with the different dynamics between male and female classes, they steadily built their skills, culminating in a victory at last year’s world championships.
“We handled the tough demands and worked hard,” Okada said.
Yoshioka, who has strived to reach her maximum potential in the sport, expressed gratitude, saying, “I don’t have a special talent for sailing, but I’m thankful (for Okada), who believed in me and pushed me forward.”
The duo’s perseverance and unwavering determination is ultimately what led them to this hard-earned medal.
Translated by The Japan Times