Ian Barrows (left) from St. Thomas, USVI, and Hans Henken from San Francisco, CA, celebrate after securing the bronze medal in the Men's Skiff event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Photo Credit: U.S. SAILING TEAM
After a silver medal in 2022 at the Princesa Sofia Regatta and a gold in last year’s Pan American Games, Virgin Islander Ian Barrows and his partner Hans Henken have won bronze in the Men’s Skiff category for Team USA in the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
The Olympic medal is the highlight of a successful sailing career for Mr. Barrows, whose interest in the sport began as a youth on St. Thomas. After leaving the territory for college, he joined the Yale University sailing team, winning eight National Championships during his tenure. He was also recognized as a collegiate All-American on four occasions, and won College Sailor of the Year in 2017, the year he graduated from university.
The medal is vindication of sorts for Mr. Barrows, as he narrowly missed qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He now joins older brother Thomas – who competed in the 2008 and 2016 Games and coached the U.S. Men’s 470 team in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics – as an Olympian.
"I'm speechless, I still can't believe it," Mr. Barrows said after his win, according to Sail World.
“It's great to see years of hard work, dedication and commitment come to fruition with the team to securing a bronze medal at the Olympics," said Marcus Lynch, US Sailing Team High Performance Director.
