Australia wins four medals at Olympic Test Event

by Nicole Browne on 23 Aug 2007 The Australian Sailing Team (AST) today won medals in four of five races at the Olympic Sailing Test Event in Qingdao, China. Two Gold, one Silver, one Bronze.

Conditions finally improved today, with 15-18 knot winds on the course and the Australians revelled in the whitecapped waves.

The 470 Men team of Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page won the first Gold Medal of the regatta comfortably, putting a long lead on Silver medallists Great Britain and Bronze medallists Portugal in the final leg of today’s deciding race.

'We felt at home out there today in 18 knots and some big waves,' said Wilmot.

The 470 Women brought home Australia’s second Gold Medal of the day, although they had a nervous wait as they brought their boat back up the ramp to hear how the points had settled and exactly which part of the podium they would be standing on.

AST Head Coach Viktor Kovalenko delivered the news of Gold to an excited team who had earlier experienced some troubles getting started for the race. The pair had to pull out of this same regatta last year when Elise Rechichi contracted a stomach bug which took her three months to recover from.

'We were very determined after everything we’ve been through and we are just thrilled with our performance today, placing third in the race to get the win overall and a Gold Medal,' said Tessa Parkinson.

By mid afternoon the medals were coming thick and fast, with Jessica Crisp taking Bronze in the Women’s RS:X (windsurfer) event, followed by a Silver in the Tornado class.

Tornado team Glenn Ashby and Darren Bundock couldn’t quite get ahead of their rivals Roman Hagara and Hans Peter Steinacher from Austria today but they are satisfied with a Silver Medal – for now.

'Today was ideal conditions for us but we had to beat Austria by two places and we unfortunately couldn’t do that, but overall we’ve had a good performance in the light conditions here and we’ve strengthened our progress towards next year,' said Bundock.

The only class in which Australia did not medal today was the 49ers. Nathan Outteridge and Ben Austin were second behind Spain on the third leg and only needed to maintain their position in order to win overall and take Gold.

However, their tack line to the spinnaker broke and got tangled under the boat. It took 90 precious seconds to get the line sorted but they had to put up a jury rig to finish the race. The pair were shattered by the disappointment but, having been in the top three of their fleet for most of this regatta, they have gained valuable experience and learnings in these Olympic waters.

Australia did not win any medals at the Qingdao International Regatta in 2006, so today’s results are a significant improvement.

Yachting Australia CEO Phil Jones said the results reflect the progress made in implementing Australian Olympic Sailing Program plans towards 2008 and beyond.

'These results are a good indicator of our standing a year before the Olympic Games and those plans are on track,' said Jones

'The team should be congratulated on its performance but we still have a lot more work to do before 2008.

'We have a successful combination of talented athletes and hard working managers and coaches.

'By next year, no stone will have been left unturned in our quest for Olympic glory.'

Australia still has two medal chances in the final races of the regatta tomorrow – Tom Slingsby is currently fourth overall in Laser and the Yngling team of Nicky Bethwaite, Karyn Gojnich and Angela Farrell stand at sixth overall.

Ends.