Cres sailing gold medal
Naziv
Cres sailing gold medal
Kategorija
Klasifikacija prema RKD
Vrsta baštine
Opis
At the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, the Croatian sailors Igor Marenić and Šime Fantela won the gold medal in the 470 class and entered the history of Croatian sailing as the first winners of an Olympic gold in this sport. These were Marenić and Fantela’s third Olympic Games and the peak of their 15-year career after finishing in ninth place at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and sixth at London in 2012. In addition to Olympic gold, they also won six medals at world championships, including two silvers and a gold in 2009, as well as three European gold medals. For islanders, life has always been connected with the sea, and sailing is a necessary skill for navigation and fishing. Igor Marenić started his sailing career in 1995 in his hometown of Cres in the Reful Sailing Club, for which he won medals in the Optimist class, and sailed for the Croatian national team. From 1998 to 2001, he was a member of the Croatian national team, and in 2000 came fifth at the World Cup. In 2001, he moved to Zadar to the Sv. Krševan Sailing Club to sail in the 470 class together with Šime Fantela. With this Olympic gold, Fantela and Marenić became the pride of both Croatian sailing and their hometowns of Zadar and Cres. Cres welcomed them spectacularly on the evening of 24 August. It is estimated that the reception was attended by almost 5,000 people, which is twice the population of Cres, and hundreds of lit flares. Marenić and Fantela sailed into the harbour on board the guc boat of Fabio Fučić, accompanied by numerous vessels flying Croatian and Cres flags, some with lit flares. As the gold-winning sailors entered the harbour, more and more flares were lit until at one point the whole harbour glowed with red flames.
