Article wrote by Vasilij Zbogar, double Laser medallist (bronze in 2004 and silver in 2008). Rio will be his fifth Olympic Games, the second in a row in the Finn Class.
My fifth Olympic games. It has been a long journey, more than 30 years of sailing, a journey I would repeat over and over again. I went through everything: pain, joy, fail, win… But at the end I am happy, I am happy because no matter what I have always give the best possible. I am expecting my fifth Olympics with great optimism and a lot of experience. 5 a magic number, like 5 Olympic circles.
Vasilij Zbogar
I remember my first Olympics like it was yesterday. I mostly slept in the car traveling around Europe to get experience. Today I have 3 coaches, physio, psychologist. In my career I made a lot of mistakes but this mistakes made me what I am today, a sailor from a small country who has two Olympic medals in his pocket and still wants some more. For my last Olympics I chose the hardest sailing boat on the Olympic games. I call it the brutal Finn. I may be the oldest sailor in the fleet but I can tell you one thing – if the other sailors want to be ahead of me I will give them hell before they do.
Zbogar (right) with Geritzer (AUT) and Scheidt (BRA), the podium in the Laser Class at Athens 2004
Sail smart and have fun Vasilij