Norwegian Line Flem Høst (28) delivered when it mattered most.
Wednesday, August 7 at 16:38
In the medal race in the ILCA 6 class in Laser, Flem Høst was in third place before the final race was set to begin.
After the decisive final had been postponed both Tuesday and earlier Wednesday, she kept her cool and secured the Olympic bronze.
– It was completely out of this world, says father Iens Ludvig Høst to VG.
The 28-year-old has won her first Olympic medal and Norway’s second at the Paris Games. Marit Bouwmeester from the Netherlands took the gold.
– How will this be celebrated?
– So far we haven’t gotten that far yet. We are one day behind and many have had to go home. But five of Line’s friends are here, plus her mother, aunt, uncle, and me. We are a large group. There is no doubt there will be plenty of champagne, says father Høst proudly.
After crossing the finish line, the Norwegian girl shouted and screamed with joy and jumped into the water. There she received congratulatory hugs from Danish silver medalist Anne-Marie Rindom.
– Yes, she shouted and started to cry.
Then she ran to her parents and gave them a big hug.
– She is just so happy. She has worked for this for 20 years, says father Høst.
Line Flem Høst gets a good hug from her mother Anne Flem. Photo: Private
Mom Anne and Aunt Tove celebrate. Photo: Private
– What does it mean to you that your daughter performs on the biggest stage?
– Right now I’m starting to cry again, he says, needing to collect himself.
– No, of course I will be 78 years old in a couple of weeks. And I still work full-time at the Norwegian Sailing Federation. Now I can retire, he says.
He continues:
– There have been so many delays, and we’ve been on edge for several days. Then a lot of wind finally came, and everything went very quickly. From when they were at the start to when they finished, I just cried and cried, he says.
It has been 20 years since a Norwegian woman won an Olympic medal in sailing. Back then, it was Siren Sundby who secured the gold in the Europe boat class in Athens.
Crown Prince Haakon witnessed the bronze celebration from Paris.
– Yes, in sailing there was also a medal now, so that was great fun! And it’s not over yet. Now it’s the men who will sail a bit later today. And handball is still ongoing, so there’s much exciting to look forward to, he tells VG and other reporters.
Expert and former sailor Tiril Hartvedt Bue praises Flem Høst.
– It was so great to follow this race. It was so controlled from start to finish by her. Simply masterfully delivered by Line, she says.
– How important is this medal?
– It is so important. It has been twenty years since the last. Incredibly important for Norwegian sailing, says Bue.
Short Videos
This was the premise before the final:
- The points the sailors carried over from the medal race were added to the total score they had from the opening series. In the medal race, the points were doubled.
- Before the medal race, Høst was five points ahead of Maud Jayet (Switzerland), eight ahead of Elena Vorobeva (Croatia), and twelve ahead of Emma Plasschaert (Belgium). If she finished in the top three, the bronze was hers.
- Dutch Marit Bouwmeester had such a large lead that Danish Anne-Marie Rindom could not catch up with her. The same applied for Rindom in relation to Høst, according to expert Tiril Hardtvedt Bue. Thus, the gold and silver were in the bag, unless they did not complete the race or were disqualified – in which case they would receive 22 points.
At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Hermann Sogn Tomasgaard won a bronze medal in Laser. Flem Høst led halfway that time but ended up in 8th place.
- PS! Tomasgaard is sailing later Wednesday and has a theoretical chance to win bronze. He is currently in fifth place. You can watch everything from the Olympics on Max!