Belgium's Bouwmeester, Spain's Botin and Trittel win World Sailor of the Year awards

The 2024 Rolex World Sailor of the Year Award winners are Marit Bouwmeester of Belgium, who became the most-decorated female Olympic sailor of all time, and Diego Botin and Florian Trittel of Spain, who in just less than three weeks won an Olympic gold medal and SailGP's $2 million Season 4 championship.

Bouwmeester won the gold medal in women’s dinghy at the Paris Games, pushing her career total to four medals, including two golds, a silver and a bronze. She returned from the birth of her daughter to begin preparations for this year’s Olympics. She also won the World Sailor of the Year Award in 2017.

Botin and Trittel capped a remarkable summer by winning the Olympic gold in the men’s skiff less than three weeks after taking Spain’s SailGP Team from 10th to first to win the season championship. They stunned three-time defending champion Australia and powerhouse New Zealand in the Grand Final in San Francisco to claim the $2 million, winner-take-all prize.

The new Young World Sailor of the Year awards were won by Max Maeder of Singapore, who won the Olympic bronze medal in Formula Kite, and Ewa Lewandowska of Poland, who claimed the gold medal in the mixed category of the 29er at the Youth Sailing World Championships.