Golden blondes win first GB sailing title
by Lindsey Bell, RYA 17 Aug 2008 01:23 PDT
9-21 August 2008
Sarah Ayton and Sarah Webb today become only the second British female athletes in history to win back-to-back Olympic gold medals after claiming Yngling class victory with crew Pippa Wilson at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Sailing Regatta in Qingdao this afternoon.
Ayton and Webb matched the achievement of their former helm Shirley Robertson, with whom they won Yngling gold at Athens 2004, to be the only British women in any sport to have ever sealed gold medals at consecutive Olympic Games.
Having topped the leaderboard going into the double points medal race by the narrowest of one point margins, the British trio knew whatever the placings they simply had to finish ahead of the Dutch team of Mandy Mulder, Annemieke Bes and Merel Witteveen.
And in a thrilling battle for the biggest prize of them all, Ayton’s double World champion crew made no mistakes under the most intense pressure to sprint to a sensational medal race victory, to the Dutch team’s fifth to secure the women’s keelboat gold 24 points to 33 overall.
Speaking after the race Webb said: “I’m lost for words, it is such a relief. Our experience was everything, we stayed sure and we got better.”
Ayton said: “It’s been brilliant, this campaign has been about pure perfection and we’re just an awesome team.”
Wilson added: “This has been the dream and it hasn’t really sunk in.”
Full report and reaction to follow.
You can follow the racing online at www.rya.org.uk/beijing2008, where you will get updates from the dinghy park and the results as they come in, as well as the news from the Team GB camp. You can also leave messages of support for the team and your comments on the racing and Team GB’s prospects.