Jordi Xammar and Marta Cardona won the bronze medal at the 470 World Championship, held in the waters off Enoshima, Japan, after six days of competition. This is the pair’s second world championship medal in the two seasons they have been sailing together.
The Spanish crew (Xammar, from the RCN Barcelona, and Cardona, from the CN Arenal) entered the final day in second place overall. In the two races of the Medal Series—reserved for the top ten crews and sailed in very light winds—they finished fifth and ninth, securing third place on the podium.
“We’re very happy. It’s a bronze medal at a World Championship, so we have every reason to be happy because it’s very hard to achieve—especially since it’s our second consecutive podium finish as a team. This championship makes our path forward very clear; we know exactly where we need to focus to improve. With two years left until the Games, it’s time to step up our efforts,” explained Xammar. “I’m very happy—it’s our eighth consecutive medal at a World Championship, so obviously I’m thrilled. This level of consistency is very hard to achieve,” added the Catalan skipper.
Cardona also expressed his satisfaction: “We’ve had a very positive week overall. I think we sailed very well, and in the end we won a bronze medal, which is no easy feat in a world championship at this level. It’s our second medal as a team; we have every reason to be very happy, and we’ll keep working toward Los Angeles.”
The second Spanish team in the competition, made up of Silvia Mas (CNA) and Alejandro de Maqua, achieved a commendable 28th-place finish, a result affected by two incidents in the final races: a black flag disqualification (BFD) after jumping the start, and a DNC for being unable to compete in one of the races.
Britons Martin Wrigley and Bettine Harris, the reigning European champions, were crowned the new world champions, while Germans Theresa Löffler and Christopher Hoerr took home the silver.
Eight consecutive World Championships on the podium
The bronze medal at Enoshima holds historical significance for Xammar: it marks his eighth consecutive world championship podium finish, from 2018 through 2026 (not counting the 2020 event, which was canceled due to the pandemic), matching the streak set by Australian Mathew Belcher between 2010 and 2017. Belcher has nine World Championship medals in his career, but only eight in a row, so the two now share the record for the longest streak on the podium at the 470 World Championships—an unprecedented feat in Olympic sailing.
Xammar’s series began with Nico Rodríguez, who won bronze in Aarhus in 2018, silver in Enoshima in 2019, and bronze in Vilamoura in 2021. With the introduction of the mixed 470 class, he began a new chapter alongside Nora Brugman, winning silver at Sdot Yam 2022 and The Hague 2023, as well as the world title at Palma 2024. With Marta Cardona, he has continued the streak over the past two seasons: gold at Gdynia 2025 and bronze now at Enoshima 2026.
The tally from these eight consecutive world championships is two golds, three silvers, and three bronzes, achieved with three different crew members (Rodríguez, Brugman, and Cardona) and maintaining the streak even during the transition from the men’s 470 to the current mixed format.
A Clean Sweep of Podium Finishes in the 2026 Season
The bronze medal in Enoshima caps off a season in which Xammar and Cardona have made it to the podium at all four major international events: bronze at the European Championships in Vilamoura, gold at the Sofía Mallorca Trophy by FERGUS Hotels, victory at the French Olympic Week in Hyères, and now a world bronze medal in Enoshima. The pair, who began their partnership in 2025—the year they were already crowned European and world champions—now have their sights set on Los Angeles 2028.