Laser Radial Worlds - Alison Young takes fourth in Boltenhagen

by Lindsey Bell on 21 May 2012 At the 2012 Laser Radial World Championship, Alison Young has rounded off an impressive weekend of action for Britain’s sailors with a fourth place – her best Worlds finish to date – as the event drew to a close in Boltenhagen, Germany, on Sunday (20 May).

The 24-year-old Young, who earned her call-up to Team GB for the 2012 Games just 11 days ago, secured her confidence-boosting result after six days of competition at the German venue, which served up a mix of conditions during the course of the regatta.

Young, whose previous World Championship best came at the Perth 2011 event in December where she finished seventh, was poised in third place – just one point behind the silver medal position – heading into the final two races on Sunday, and counted seven top ten results from the 10 races held to that point.

In spite of picking up a disqualification for a second yellow flag in the penultimate race of the regatta – a fate also suffered by one of her key medal rivals Sari Multala of Finland – the Skandia Team GBR sailor still remained within touching distance of the podium spots.

A 19th from the final race saw Young ultimately miss on the medals by just four points behind Multala, with gold going to Lithuania’s Gintare Scheidt and silver to China’s Xu Lijia.

Skandia Team GBR’s Charlotte Dobson concluded her regatta in 10th, with development squad Radial sailor Chloe Martin securing 14th.

'Ali has proven this week that she can trouble the world’s best across a range of conditions, and do it on the big stage when it matters,' said RYA Olympic Manager Stephen Park of Young’s World Championship personal best.

'Although she’ll no doubt be disappointed to have just missed out on the podium this time around, she’ll take huge confidence from her performance this week which I’m sure will spur her on in the final weeks of her build-up to the Games.'

Skandia Team GBR website