Borrowing from our friends in other sports, IFTPO is a new series of blog posts discussing observations from some of our favorite photos in the Olympic scene.
We all know how competitive 49erFX teams are on the water merely from hearing any given leeward mark rounding or start. Vocalizing the rules of sailing have become an art form in the fleet, and being on the same page with skipper and crew is vital. How vital? The bulk of the fleet seem to be willing to take the competition off the water and onto Social Media competing amongst each other for best unity in Rio pics! Can the risks these teams are taking be worth it to physc out the competition?
It started with a couple Rio #Teamdrops, nothing too crazy.
Then the training partners of Annemiek Bekkering with Annette Duetz (NED) and Vicky Jurczok with Anika Llorenz (GER) capped off a morning hike with a group photo showboating their sporting connection… cute… but shows multi-team coordination for intimidation.
Not to be outdone, Team Bygma Jena Hansen and Katja Iversen, decided they should also show off their team unity, although they decided to use the coaches and 49er sailors, which was bound to cause problems and could have been dangerous. Coaches organizing and 49er sailors helping was never going to work… just check out the video link for proof…
Then things started to get serious. USA’s Paris Henken and Helena Scutt decided proper intimidation needed to show the risks they were willing to take to win the social media wars. Catch Paris ‘rescuing’ Helena from the savages of the cliffs high atop Rio’s beautiful beaches.
As we’ve come to expect over these past few years, nobody was as competitive as Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze. Watching their competition peacock around their hometown the locals decided to one up them all with a display of unity and the ultimate in risk taking. Check out Martine and Kahena pulling off a sunrise pose followed by Martine freeclimbing the cliffs. Game, Set, Match!
And then they all enjoyed the best of Rio some more…
