The Rio 2016 Olympics have passed, and now world-class athletes can put their hard-earned metals on the mantel-piece and contemplate the 2020 Tokyo games. Among the many American medalists, Team USA sailor Caleb Paine of San Diego, California took home the bronze in the Finn class, the Men’s Heavyweight Dinghy. Rio was the first Olympic appearance for Paine, who is 25 years old. He is the first American to medal in an Olympic sailing event since Anna Tunnicliffe and Zach Railey in Beijing in 2008 (Jennifer French and JP Creignou won a proud silver medal at the London 2012 Paralympics in the SKUD-18 class).
Paine won his medal on the Pao racecourse in the shadow of Sugarloaf Mountain and finished behind the United Kingdom’s Giles Scott (gold) and Slovenia’s Vasilij Zbogar (silver) after an impressive performance. Paine’s coach, Luther Carpenter, is known as “the man behind fi ve medals” and has ushered in medal wins with his coaching five times (including Paine’s bronze-medal win). Well done Caleb Paine and Luther Carpenter, and here’s to Team USA winning gold in sailing at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics!
Photo: ©2016 Daniel Forster/USSailing
