Luke Muller earns selection to 2020 U.S. Olympic Sailing Team
by US Sailing Team 12 Jul 2020 03:28 NZST
Luke Muller – US Sailing Team © Pedro Martinez / Sailing Energy / World Sailing
On Thursday, June 9, US Sailing announced the conclusion of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 Athlete Trials in the Finn class. As a result, the leading U.S. athlete, Luke Muller (Fort Pierce, Fla.), has earned selection to the 2020 U.S. Olympic Sailing Team and is nominated to Team USA.
Muller earned selection thanks to his performances at the 2019 Finn World Championship and 2020 Hempel World Cup Series Miami, where he placed 17th and 3rd, respectively.
Tokyo will be Muller's first Games appearance and he could not be more excited to represent Team USA in Tokyo. "It feels incredible to know that I will have the honor of representing our country at the Olympic Games next summer," he said. "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."
A member of the US Sailing Team for the last six years, Muller has progressed significantly since finishing college at Stanford University and shifting his focus to a full-time campaign in the Finn. In 2016, he served as training partner for Caleb Paine (San Diego, Calif.), who went on to win the Bronze Medal at the Rio 2016 Olympics in the Finn class.
Muller is a three-time World Cup medalist, two-time National Champion, and is currently ranked among the world's top 20 Finn sailors. Some of his career highlights in the Finn include, 3rd place at both the 2019 and 2020 Hempel World Cup Series Miami, 9th at the 2017 Kiel Week Regatta, and 4th at the 2017 Sailing World Cup Miami.
"The news of Luke's Games selection is very exciting for our Finn program," said Luther Carpenter, US Sailing Team Head Coach. "During our summer training, 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."
Muller has recently resumed on-the-water training after a long hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, he took advantage of his time out of the boat to focus heavily on tactics, weather, and conditioning. Now that he has officially received the Games nomination, Muller is all the more excited to be back on the water and is hard at work preparing for Tokyo.
"The plan remains the same. My coach Luther [Carpenter] 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 Muller. "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."
Learn more about the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials and US Sailing's Selection Procedures.