Before the last day of competition in Geneva, Harald V was in 13th place, but thanks to 5th and 7th places in the last two races, he moved up to 10th.
Everyone is shocked by the magnificent performance of the king. He is already old, and the competition required very good form and concentration from the players.
- He was the oldest and performed well in competitions with much younger yachtsmen, especially since these were not one-day competitions, but lasted a whole week and consisted of nine races, the results of which determined the final standings, - said Competition Director Jean Olivier Kerr in an interview with Norwegian television. - He has a strong competitive instinct. He didn’t come here to have fun.
Harald V had a very poor first race but did much better in the next eight. A series of 4-8-13-14-15-13-5-7 brought him 79 points and a place in the top ten.
Harald V is a cousin of Queen Elizabeth II and a decorated sailor.
The Norwegian monarch - a close relative of the British Queen Elizabeth II (they are second cousins) - is not the first sailor in the Glücksburg dynasty, which has ruled Norway since 1905. His father Olaf V in 1928 became the Olympic champion in sailing at the Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. . And grandfather Haakon VII from 1906 was always present at the ski jumping festival on the great Holmenkollen hill.
Jonathan Brady / AFP
British Queen Elizabeth II (96) and Norwegian King Harald V (85) are cousins.
Harald V achieved many successes in his sports career. In the class of monotonous boats, while still a prince, he won the 1987 World Championship in Kiel on the Fram X yacht. A year later, on the same ship, he won a bronze medal in San Francisco, and in 2005, as king on the Fram XV, he became the European sailing champion in Sandhamn, Sweden.
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For several years he has been taking part in international sailing competitions in the classic R-8 class on the 8-meter yacht Sira, with which he won the 2008 World Championship.
“Syrah” was built in 1938 by his father Olaf V specifically for the Kattegatt Cup he won. The boat was also a gift for… Harald’s first birthday.
In 1983, the boat was already in the museum, but Harald restored it and after 25 years he again took the helm.
He has been sailing with the same crew for 35 years.
Still second in line to the Norwegian throne, he competed in three Olympics - in Tokyo (1964), Mexico (1968) and Munich (1972). In Japan, he was the flag bearer for the Norwegian national team.
- I love sailing and, despite my age, participating in big events is always a competition, not recreational cruises, Harald W. said in a previous interview with Norwegian television.
She has been sailing on the Sira for 35 years with the same well-coordinated crew.
He dreamed of an Olympic medal…
Harald participated in three Olympics. In Munich, he was a firm favorite for gold in sailing, but did not even win a medal. The disappointment was so great that Harald refused to sail. But this separation did not last long. He came back and started winning.
However, during a conversation with Olympic 400m hurdles champion Carsten Warholm, King Harald said he was not proud of what he had achieved despite his World Cup victories. - No, not at all. If I achieved something at the Olympics, I would be happy,” he said. I have never been the best athlete, he added.
Warholm then thought that the king was too modest. - Your Majesty is the king and shares these duties with the sport. What if Your Majesty could choose? - asked the athlete. “Then I would be the best in sports,” replied the monarch.
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Source: FAKT
