Windsurfer Kiran Badloe comes in third after the first three races at the Tokyo Olympics.

He got off to a poor start with a fifth and seventh place, but was the fastest in the third race. In the standings he is third behind the Swiss Mateo Sanz Lanz and the Spaniard Angel Granda Roque.

Three-time world champion Badloe had to allow Sanz Lanz to be fastest in the first two races. The calm winds gave the lighter surfers like Sanz Lanz and Granda Roque an advantage in the waters around Enoshima Island. Later in the day the wind picked up and Badloe was able to exploit his higher weight.

Badloe is the favorite in the RS:X class to succeed his former training mate Dorian van Rijsselberghe as Olympic champion. Still, in the first and second race, the three-time world champion had to allow Swiss Mateo Sanz Lanz to be the fastest in the water around the island of Enoshima.

Especially for the Olympics Badloe had a special haircut. The blue arrow on the head of 26-year-old Badloe is a reference to Aang, a character from the animated series Avatar. Aang is the master of the wind in it.

The RS:X class medal race is on Saturday. There are still regular races for Badloe on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.

 

Source: NOS

📷: @sailingenergy