Eve McMahon Wins Gold at LA Grand Slam
Irish Olympic Sailor Eve McMahon has claimed gold at the LA Grand Slam in the ILCA 6 class, marking a major milestone on the road to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, which are now just three years away.
The event, officially known as the Long Beach Olympic Classes Regatta, is the fourth of World Sailing’s prestigious Grand Slam series and serves as a key warm-up event for many nations targeting LA 2028. It was held this week off the coast of Long Beach, California – the same waters that will host the Olympic sailing competition in three years' time.
McMahon, who represented Ireland at the Paris 2024 Games, began the final day of racing in second place overall. A strong opening race saw her move into the lead, with just a few points separating her from Great Britain’s Hannah Snellgrove, who had dominated much of the regatta. The final race of the day saw McMahon put her tactical skills to the test, match racing Snellgrove to defend her position and delivering her first Grand Slam Win.
“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, so I'm really happy with how I performed and that I was able to come away with the Gold,” said McMahon. “This event gave us a real taste of what LA 2028 will feel like.”
This Gold medal comes off the back of McMahon’s Bronze Medal at the ILCA 6 World Championships in China earlier this year and follows her being ranked No. 1 by World Sailing just last month. The results reflect early signs of a continued consistency that defined her decorated youth career as McMahon now firmly establishes herself as a serious contender in the senior Olympic fleet.
Fellow Olympian Finn Lynch and Eve’s brother and teammate Ewan McMahon were also sailing at the event in LA and finished 8th and 17th respectively.
Attention now turns for the fleet to the ILCA European Championships being held in Marstrand, Sweden from the 9th - 16th of August, an event in which McMahon’s teammate Finn Lynch won Bronze just last year in the men's fleet.