sail-world.com -- London Olympics 2012: 470 Men - Aussies and Brits guaranteed medals
London Olympics 2012: 470 Men - Aussies and Brits guaranteed medals
Wed, 8 Aug 2012
London Olympics 2012 Sailing competition, Weymouth - 470 Men's class.
Aussies Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page and Great Britain's Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell are guaranteed to walk away with either a gold or silver medal in the Men's 470.
Both teams have an unassailable lead at the top of the leader board but the Australian's have the advantage going into the Medal Race as they hold a four point lead over the Brits after double bullets on the final day of Men's 470 fleet racing. Belcher and Page have won five of ten races after a shaky start on the opening day.
Page said, 'Since we got the first day jitters out the way I've been happy with our style of racing and fighting spirit. It's great to work our way back into it because we were disappointed with how we sailed and it wasn't out normal performance.
'Those results could have hurt us but we stayed strong, believed in ourselves and trusted each other and obviously our unit and continue to deliver. It's great to be back in front again.'
Patience and Bithell have pushed the Australians all the way and need to finish two places ahead of them in the Medal Race on 9th August to take gold. 'We didn't come here for second place,' Patience said. 'We're stoked, don't get us wrong. We're really happy boys but there is work to be done. There is yet another race and yet another opportunity to upgrade the medals.'
Whilst the top two have their eyes set on the gold a fight for bronze will ensue in the Medal Race. Lucas Calabrese and Juan de la Fuente (ARG) currently hold third on 57 points whilst Gabrio Zandona and Pietro Zucchetti (ITA) trail them by three points and Paul Snow-Hansen and Jason Saunders (NZL) are 15 points behind them. Pierre Leboucher and Vincent Garos (FRA) are 17 points behind but are a long shot to take bronze.
The Men's 470 Medal Race takes place on 9th August at 13:00 local time on the Nothe Course.
Top Five
1. Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page (AUS) - 18pts 2. Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell (GBR) - 22pts 3. Lucas Calabrese and Juan de la Fuente (ARG) - 57pts 4. Gabrio Zandona and Pietro Zucchetti (ITA) - 60pts 5. Paul Snow Hansen and Jason Saunders (NZL) - 72pts
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