- John Gimson and Anna Burnet were in a good place to win first medal of the day
- The pair previously won silver in Tokyo – where they debuted as a couple
- Burnet was comforted by Gimson after the avoidable end to their medal hopes
The wedding is yet to come, but on the sparkling waters of the Cote D’Azur there was already trouble in paradise.
Sailing sweethearts John Gimson and Anna Burnet, who get married in Scotland next month, were 700 metres from home with one foot on the mixed multihull podium when something blue arrived and ruined it all.
A blue dinghy and a blue flag. Race over. Three years of preparation killed by a fraction of a second. Moments earlier. the pair had heard the whistle and the shouts at the start to denote that someone had crossed the line early.
But in the searing Marseille heat of battle they did not realise they were the culprits. Had they done so, they could have swung around, crossed the line again and attempted to race for their lives.
By the time the dreaded dinghy arrived the battle had been lost and won. On the surface of the Mediterranean arrived the depths of despair.
John Gimson (left) and Anna Burnet were left heartbroken after being disqualified in their mixed multi-hull medal race
The Team GB pair had been targeting an improvement on their silver medal finish in Tokyo
Burnet, 31, immediately put a hand to her safety helmet. Her fiancé came across, lifted her to her feet and gave her the warmest of embraces. No words were needed.
After returning to shore, Gimson, 41, offered a couple. ‘Broken’ he said. ‘Brutal.’ He then repeated the first. ‘We made one mistake and it’s cost us an Olympic medal so you can imagine we’re pretty broken.’
‘It’s devastating,’ Burnet added. ‘It’s a bad dream but we can be proud of what we have done.’
If there is a positive for the Tokyo silver winners then one would imagine this sobering experience will add another layer to what appears to be a solid foundation.
‘Life goes on,’ an admirably and instantly philosophical Burnet said. ‘There’s sport and there’s life and it doesn’t have to blend into one. We’ve been on amazing journey together. Were still on that journey. It doesn’t always go your way. It didn’t go our way today. What an exciting future we have.’
Gimson comforted his visibly distraught fiancee after the end of their podium hopes in France
For Gimson, thoughts turned to the wedding. ‘We’re about to find out how far Anna’s mum has got with the planning,’ he said. ‘We have couple of weeks left so I’m sure you can sort a wedding out in a couple of weeks.’
Elsewhere, their Italian rivals cruised to gold. The pair will be guests at the wedding. It is to be hoped they bring a decent gift.
