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SAILING: Australians sail to double gold

Australia’s Nathan Wilmot, left, and Malcolm Page race during the 470 class men’s medal race in Qingdao, China, yesterday. PHOTO: EPA

Australia scored double gold in Olympic sailing yesterday, with Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page winning in the men’s double-handed 470 dinghies and the duo of Elise Rechichi and Tessa Parkinson claiming the top spot in the same boat for women.

In the men’s 470s, Britain’s Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield took silver, and Nicolas Charbonnier of Olivier Bausset of France won bronze. In the women’s 470, the Dutch team of Marcelien De Koning and Lobke Berkhout clinched silver, with Brazil’s Fernanda Oliveira and Isabel Swan taking bronze.

Wilmot and Page had the medal wrapped up on overall points ahead of the final, making their win of yesterday’s medal race seem more like a 28-minute victory lap.

“We didn’t have to do what we did today. We were relaxed, we had a bit of fun and it was all right,” Page said. “That’s the art of it, but it’s a bit harder to do when there’s high pressure.”

Wilmot was happy that the race was over.

“I was looking forward to getting it over and done with, getting a medal around the neck and then really relaxing,” Wilmot said.

Rogers was pleased with the silver after the British team’s weak start in the preliminary series.

“It’s been really stressful. It’s a long event, which I’m glad we got it over and done with and got a silver, which looked a long, long way off,” he said.

The Australian women also had a virtually unassailable 18-point lead over the Dutch after the 10-race series leading into the medal race, which counts double. They finished ninth out of the 10-boat field that made it to the finals, good enough to secure the gold.

Meanwhile, Danish Olympic champions Jonas Warrer and Martin Ibsen said yesterday “a dream came true” after their dramatic victory in the skiff dinghy-49 on Sunday.

“I couldn’t have written a more exciting thriller. It has been inhuman and extremely tough,” Martin Ibsen told reporters after protests against their win had been turned down.

Warrer said the Croatian team was “worth a medal” and hoped the Danish Sailing Association would investigate if the Croatians could be awarded a medal for good sportsmanship, the Politiken said.

The Danish duo were able to complete Sunday’s race after they used a boat borrowed from the Croatian team after they broke a mast on the way to the start of the final race.
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