Winners are Grinners in Qingdao.
Winners are Grinners in Qingdao.
An elated Shahar
Zubari (ISR) phone home just minutes after winning the
Bronze medal in the RS:X Mens Richard Gladwell
Welcome
to Sail-World.Com's Olympic newsletter for Day 12 of the
2008 Olympic Sailing Regatta.
With now just one day left in the 2008 Olympic Regatta in Qingdao, the parties have all but started.
Certainly the New Zealanders will be hard pressed to restrain themselves after they won a Gold Medal today – even though they have sailors racing tomorrow. For the more reserved Chinese, there will no doubt be a quiet drink, or two.
Both Gold Medals are significant.
For the Chinese it is their first Gold Medal in sailing, and gives them two medals from this Olympics – a bronze in the Laser Radial lifting them into a new place in the sailing world.
New Zealand has a long established Olympic tradition, which has struggled to maintain its gleam in recent years with the double focus for its sailors of the America's Cup, both for its own team and others, and the fact that so many of its top sailors are professionals for a myriad of international campaigns.
Start of RS:X Mens
Medal Race - 2008 Qingdao Ingrid Abery ©
Copyright
After failing to win a medal at the Athens Olympics, along with its neighbour Australia, both went through a considerable soul-searching exercise.
Australia have hauled themselves up by the bootstraps, winning two Gold medals so far, with a good prospect of a third in the form of current world champions, Darren Bundock and Glenn Ashby competing in the Tornado class tomorrow.
Jian
Yin (CHN) celebrates immediately after crossing the finish
line to win the RS:X Womens Gold medal Richard
Gladwell
New Zealand came into this regatta with high hopes, and a tough selection policy – probably the harshest of any country competing – declining to send crew in two classes in which the Kiwis had qualified.
While several of their team made good starts to the regatta for various reasons they fell to the vagaries of Qingdao, as so many others have done. However their sailing medal drought is broken, with Tom Ashley's superb win under tremendous pressure this afternoon.
Tomorrow will see the Last Waltz, which will hopefully be more of a flypast, for the Tornado class - as the multihull is due to be dropped for the 2012 Olympics.
An emotional Jian Yin (CHN) soon after the
end of the RS:X Womens - Medal Race Richard
Gladwell
If the predicted seabreeze arrives, the Tornado
medal race should be most spectacular event of this Olympiad
– even though it is probably only a two or three horse
race for the Gold medal.
All would hope that organisers give the Tornado crews a chance to stretch their legs, and not restrict the fleet to a 19 minute two leg event that was the lot of the RS:X Mens today.
An elated Tom Ashley
on the winners podium at the RS:X Mens Medal ceremony
Qingdao Olympic Regatta Richard Gladwell
However today's was China's day. As host for this Olympics they took on a huge task, in a difficult environment, and have been found wanting in several areas.
But today all that was forgotten in the emotion and joy of their first Gold Medal and the scenes on the water and back in the Olympic harbour will remain with all, for a very long time.
Good Sailing!
Richard Gladwell
Sail-World Olympic
Editor
Ashley wins RS:X Gold for New Zealand
Richard
Gladwell, Sail-World,
Tom Ashley has just won the RS:X
Gold medal at Qingdao. Stay tuned to Sail-World.Com for
pictures, audio and reports of the race, medal ceremony as
these take place. Sail-World NZ was on the water for the
race and has exclusive photographs. We are reporting live on
site from the international media centre....
[more]
Images of Qingdao: Medal Race - RS:X
Womens
Richard Gladwell,
Images from the Medal Race of the RS:X Womens Event, which took place off the Olympic breakwater off Qingdao this afternoon. <:img Alt_IMG_0416.jpg :>... [more]
Windsurfing bronze for
jubilant Shaw in Qingdao
Lindsey Bell,
Bryony Shaw
won Great Britain's first ever women's windsurfing medal
clinching RS:X bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in
Qingdao today (Wednesday 20 August). Speaking immediately
after the race an overcome Shaw said: 'I'm just so, so
happy, it was such a tough race and has been such a tough
week and I'm just so happy, it's the best thing in the
world... [more]
Letter from Qingdao: The crowds come
to Fushan Bay
Today was a memorable day on Fushan Bay with the Medal Races for the RS:X Womens and Mens events being sailed in front of the breakwater for the Olympic Harbour. The day dawned with the racecourse a glassy calm and for a while it seemed as though racing would not be possible, However a building easterly developed into a nice seabreeze by mid morning only to fade by the start of racing which got un... [more]
Olympic Sailing Day 12 - All Classes
Results Table
TRW,
Olympic Sailing Day 12 - All
Classes Results Table... [more]
Ingrid's Images from
Qingdao Olympics
Rob Kothe,
Lovely Ingrid Abery came
our aid today, lending us a camera body, when we were one
down. She's been eveywhere on the courses and dockside. Here
are some of her images today. There are more at
www.hotcapers.com... [more]
Sailjuice - Two great
Medal Races
Andy Rice - Sailjuice,
The RS-X Medal
Races were real nailbiters today. They took place in the
brightest, sunniest conditions we've seen in Qingdao. Not
quite enough to get the boards planing though, so plenty of
wind whacking going on.... [more]
Olympic Sailing:
Last day for USA Stars Tornados
Derby Anderson,
USA
Stars and Tornados sailed three races today in gorgeous
weather. In eight to fifteen knots and sunshine they got
their races started on time at 11:00 a.m. Unfortunately, the
results were not so sunny for the two American boats. They
were both unable to qualify for tomorrow's top ten medal
race,... [more]
Sailing and Television – an unholy
alliance
Bob Fisher,
Is the harvesting of the share
of television rights monies by ISAF too high a price to pay
for the incursion of Great God Television into our sport?
While it does provide the major share of the income of the
international federation, the price that is paid for it by
the interference into the Olympic regatta would appear
questionable.... [more]
Brits lead Olympic Sailing
Medal Count
Rob Kothe,
The Beijing Olympics 2008
British sailing campaign has swept all before them. Seems
like the luck of the lottery draw for the small island
nation, who could add another medal in the Star Class with
Iain Percy and Andrew 'Bart'Simpson currently second going
into tomorrow's Medal Race.... [more]
Images of
Qingdao: RS:X Mens Medal Ceremony
Richard Gladwell,
Sail-World,
Images of Qingdao: RS:X Mens Medal
Ceremony... [more]
Light and Scheidt
Bob Fisher,
On a day when the breeze grew progressively lighter,
Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada sailed an impressively
consistent three races in the Stars. The 2007 world
champions hold third position overall after gaining ten
points on Xavier Rohart and Pascal Rambeau of France on the
day to lead the French by four points....
[more]
Olympic Sailing Aussies to tussle for Tornado
Gold
Australian Sailing Team Media,
'Tomorrow's a big
day - we're just going to go for it and try to win' -The
Australian Tornado Crew... [more]
Sailing Olympics
Qingdao - Day 12 Completed
Sail-world.com/uk,
Day 12
of the sailing at Qingdao and Jian Yin took a first Gold for
China in the sailing - Sensini of Italy the Silver and
Britain's Bryony Shaw the Bronze in the RS:X. In the Men's
RS:X Medal Race, Tom Ashley of New Zealand took the Gold.
Silver went to Julien Bontemps of France and the Bronze to
Shahar Zubari of Israel. Britain's Nick Dempsey finished
fourth overall... [more]
Bronze for Bryony Shaw in
Qingdao
Lindsey Bell,
Bryony Shaw has won Great
Britain's first ever women's windsurfing medal clinching
RS:X bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in Qingdao
today. Jian Yin of China finished the race in third place to
claim gold with 39 points, Alessandra Sensini of Italy
taking silver with 40 and Shaw winning bronze with 45....
[more]
Olympics Results Womens RS:X Jian Yin (CHN)
Gold
Rob Kothe,
Olympics Day 12 Womens RS:X Medals
Jian Yin (CHN) Gold, Alessandra Sensini (ITA) Silver, Bryony
Shaw (GBR Bronze. Athens silver medallist, China's Yin Jian
won Gold in the RS:X Women at the Olympic Sailing Regatta in
Qingdao today, winning her country's first ever Olympic
sailing gold.... [more]
Kiwi Quotes - Tom Ashley and
Carl Williams
Jodie Bakewell-White,
Tom Ashley and
Carl Williams comment on their racing yesterday in the RS:X
windsurfer and Star class respectively. Tom Ashley: 'Tough
day today!' 'Very light, VERY shifty offshore breeze for the
last fleet race of the Olympics.'... [more]
Olympics
Tunnicliffe grabs moment, takes control
Dean Brenner Team
Leader US Olympic Sailing Team,
On this walk, I'm doing
my very best to convey a sense of calm and cool that she can
feed off. I want to be that rock for her, that cool
influence that makes it all a little easier. And we are
walking... and walking... and I realize that neither of us
is actually saying anything. Total silence. Awkward
moment......... [more]
PredictWind - very light airs
for racing Wednesday
Sail-World and PredictWind.Com,
PredictWind forecasts only very light winds in Qingdao
today, Wednesday, increasing substantially for the next two
days. Today at the Olympic regatta, racing is scheduled for
the RS:X Mens and Womens classes (Medal Races) and fleet
racing in the Star and Tornado classes, who are due to race
their Medal races on Thursday... [more]
Britain's
sailors poised for more Gold
Lindsey Bell,
Paul
Goodison's Gold was Britain's fourth sailing medal of the
2008 Beijing Olympic Games with Ben Ainslie and then the
Yngling trio winning gold on Sunday and Nick Rogers and Joe
Glanfield clinching 470 men's silver Monday. But that tally
could increase even further Wednesday as both Nick Dempsey
and Bryony Shaw go for gold in the RS:X windsurfing men's
and women's classes... [more]
Images from Qingdao:
RS:X Mens Medal Race
Richard Gladwell, Sail-World,
Images from the RS:X Mens Medal Race raced this
afternoon in Qingdao, with the Gold medal won by Tom Ashley
(NZL with Julien Bontemps (FRA) taking the Silver and Shahar
Zubari (ISR) the Bronze... [more]
2008 Olympics
Qingdao
09/08/08
Welcome to Sail-World.Com's coverage
of the 2008 Sailing Olympics in Qingdao, China...
For
more details and news for this event, go
to:
http://www.sail-world.com/index.cfm?SEid=1013
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