After the stunning performance earning a bronze in 2020 Hempel World Cup Series Miami following a 17th place in World Championship 2019, Luke Muller secured his place in the U.S. Sailing Team for 2020 Olympics. He becomes the 11th sailor to qualify for the U.S. sailing team for Tokyo Olympic Games 2020. This is going to be his debut in Olympics. The 24-year old sailor was training hard with beat his teammate Caleb Paine, the bronze medallist at the 2016 Olympics.
“It feels incredible to know that I will have the honour of representing our country at the Olympic Games next summer,” Muller said of his selection.
“It is very gratifying that all the hard work and sacrifice has resulted in this accomplishment. At the same time, I feel a profound responsibility to represent the US Sailing community as best I can. I continue to strive to be as prepared as possible and if I do my job it will be a great pleasure to race against the best in the world.”
Started as a recreational sailor, Muller became serious about the sport and made consistent progress with hard training. No wonder he holds the record of being the youngest champion of the U.S. Laser class. Later in 2014, before registering at Stanford University, Muller shifted his focus to the Finn to pursue his Olympic dream. He trained hard with his partner Paine and coach Luther Carpenter and made notable achievements like securing the third spot at the World Cups in 2019 and 2020.
Muller competed with Paine and Eric Anderson to secure his place in the Olympic team. He topped in two of the three qualifying trial events. The third trial, the 2020 Finn Gold Cup, has been postponed to October due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Head Coach of US Sailing Team Luther Carpenter shared his joy, “The news of Luke’s Games selection is very exciting for our Finn program.”
Recollecting the training period, Carpenter said, “We continue each day with the tasks at hand. The energy and commitment of our Finn sailors is at an all-time high, and the results we are seeing and the confidence it inspires is extremely encouraging. Luke’s progress this summer in fitness, goal setting, and technique has surpassed the targets we set in May. Both Luke and Eric Anderson, his training partner, are putting in the real-deal Olympic effort! I’m proud to be their coach.”
After the long break due to the pandemic, Muller is back to his on-the-water training. He utilised the COVID 19-induced break to work on his tactics and to focus on conditioning and weather. He is excited to receive the official confirmation of the nomination and is training hard to prepare for Tokyo.
“The plan remains the same. My coach Luther and I along with Eric Anderson have always strived to reach the highest levels of our discipline and we will continue to do that,” said the sailor.
Regarding the game strategies, Muller said, “We are working to dial in our Olympic equipment and refine the subtleties of technique as well as the tactical and strategic aspects of the game.”
