Paris 2024: Christchurch iQFoil windsurfer Emma Wilson has to settle for bronze in Olympic medal race

Christchurch windsurfer Emma Wilson cut a devastated figure after crossing the line for Olympic bronze today (Saturday).

After dominating the 14 rounds of races over the past few days, winning eight of them, she progressed straight to the final, delayed to today after yesterday’s slight winds.

Competing against Italy’s Marta Maggetti and Israel’s Sharon Kantor, the former Ballard School pupil rounded the first two marks ahead, but slipped back to third on her way to the next.

She could not chase the pair down, and crossed the finish line 31 seconds behind the winning Italian.

Afterwards, a clearly distraught Wilson was seen being comforted by her team on the support vessel.

It’s Wilson’s second Olympic medal after winning bronze at Tokyo but, given her dominance over the first rounds of racing, she will have hoped for better.

The 25-year-old finished with a 31-point lead over second-place Sharon Kantor of Israel, while Italy’s Marta Maggetti was 21 points further back.

But these results are meaningless going into the final, where a single race settles the medals.

Wilson won bronze and silver in the two most recent world championships, and follows in her mother Penny’s footsteps, who placed in the top 10 in windsurfing at the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games.