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Irish sailor Eve McMahon wins LA Grand Slam gold medal in perfect preparation for 2028 Olympics

Irish sailor Eve McMahon wins LA Grand Slam gold medal in perfect preparation for 2028 Olympics

The Irish Sun17-07-2025
IRISH sailor Eve McMahon enjoyed the perfect early boost for the 2028 Olympics by claiming a gold medal at the LA Grand Slam yesterday.
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2024 's UCD Sportsperson of the Year will be hoping to reach her second Olympic games
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McMahon has been shortlisted for RTÉ Young Sportsperson of the Year three times
And the race was held on the same Californian waters that will host the Games in three years' time.
It was a big win for Howth woman McMahon, who trailed Great Britain's Hannah Snellgrove in second before surging to victory. Poland's Agata Barwinska came third.
In fact, McMahon was disqualified from the third race but was consistently finishing inside the top ten of her other outings.
She won the seventh race and also recorded three further top-three finishes.
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Those displays meant she could discard her disqualification and an 18th-place finish in the second race to win the event.
McMahon said: 'I'm delighted to win here in LA. Racing on the future Olympic waters is really motivating and I really wanted to go out there today to see what I could do.
'I'm very happy with how I performed and that I was able to come away with the gold.
'This event gave us a real taste of what LA 2028 will feel like.'
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Elsewhere, Eve's brother Ewan came 17th in the men's ILCA 7 class, while Rio Olympian Finn Lynch was eighth.
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Jack Conan: 'Poignant' Katie Taylor message inspired Lions win

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