Oracle USA Wins America’s Cup In Shocking Comeback
From the archive: published Sep 25, 2013, 13 years ago. Details may have changed since.
Oracle USA won the America’s Cup Wednesday to complete one of the greatest comebacks in the history of professional sports.
Oracle USA, led by billionaire Larry Ellison , fell to Emirates New Zealand 8-1 to start the America’s Cup finals. Things looked bleak for Oracle USA in the first to nine match. However, in true American fashion, the team refused to give up and won eight straight races to shock the sailing world.
Put simply, the comeback is one of the greatest in the history of professional sports. Oracle USA was on the brink of defeat more times than the 2004 Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox, of course, broke the curse of the Bambino that year after falling three games behind the New York Yankees in the ALCS.
The Red Sox miracle come back might be more storied, but the Oracle USA comeback is more impressive.
To engineer their America’s Cup comeback, Oracle USA used a strategy called foiling . Actually, they went back to foiling after originally abandoning the strategy, and falling to an 8-1 deficit. Foiling was revisited after the team realized Emirates New Zealand was using the strategy to great success.
Oracle USA stormed back, and their America’s Cup run has become a national story. It embodies the United States’ never say die attitude. Oracle USA could have just folded and given up. Instead, they found a way to win in the darkest times.
Now Oracle USA holds the America’s Cup trophy high in their hands, and their story is one for the ages.