Diego Botin le Chever and Florian Trittel Paul have fulfilled a lifelong dream…

The 30-year-old Spanish sailor and his 30-year-old compatriot mastered the Men’s Skiff event at the 2024 Paris Games on Friday to become Olympic champions and give Spain the country’s first gold of the 2024 Summer Olympics.

The Spanish pair sailed impressively throughout the regatta, finishing top of the Opening Series by a narrow five-point margin.

Botin and Trittel hadn’t won an individual race heading into the decisive Medal Race, but they saved their best for last, dominating the fleet in an exceptional show on the water to cross the line first and claim the gold medal.

New Zealand’s Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie wrapped up the silver medal with an important third place finish in the Medal Race, which saw them overtake Ireland’s Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove.

The Irish crew began the day in second, but dropped to fourth overall after an early crossing of the start line meant they had to restart the Medal Race.

USA’s Ian Barrows and Hans Henken benefitted from the shift in positions, managing to secure bronze after a brilliant fourth in the final sail.

“It’s a dream come true. After years of putting the work in with the best team, with our families here, it doesn’t get any better,” said Botin.

Trittel added: “Staying focused has been one of the key factors for these two days of trying to get the Medal Race in.

“We knew what we wanted, which was to do the best Medal Race we could, to win that gold medal. That made us stay very focused, we had a clear game plan and I think we managed to execute it almost perfectly.”