Sarah Douglas of Burlington, Ontario won a prestigious international sailing event in France on Saturday. The event was the International Laser Class Association 6 Small Single-Handed Dinghy Event in Hyeres, France according to CBC Sports. The gold medal had added significance as it was part of French Olympic Week, just over a year before the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Douglas had 74 points. Anne-Marie Rindom of Denmark won the silver medal with 75 points, and Casey Imeneo of Australia won the bronze medal with 83 points. Douglas earned a medal by 13 points over Maria Erdi of Hungary, who was in fourth place with 87 points. The fact that Douglas beat Rindom is significant because Rindom is a two-time Olympic medalist. She won the bronze medal in the women’s laser radial at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and a gold medal in the women’s laser radial at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021.
At 29 years of age, Douglas has become one of Canada’s medal threats at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. At the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, she came away with a gold medal in the women’s laser radial. That was followed by a World Cup gold medal in the women’s laser radial in Mallorca, Spain in a World Cup event in April of 2022.
