Thompson keeps plugging away in Rio Laser quest
by Imogen Stanley 10 Aug 2016 00:27 BST
8-18 August 2016
Laser sailing star Nick Thompson insists he will keep 'plugging away' after another difficult day in Rio today (Tuesday 9 August).
Olympic debutant Thompson, 30, showed his fighting spirit in the opening race of the day – race three overall of the Laser competition – recovering from being as low as 18th in the fleet during the race to finish inside the top 10 in ninth.
But, just as the Lasers had to contend with some really shifty, unpredictable breezes in yesterday's opening two races of the event, so today threw much of the same in their direction as no sailor managed to finish both races inside the top five.
With the Laser class scheduled to sail a 10-race opening series, plus the final double points medal race for the top 10 boats, the fleet are set to pass the midway point of their event tomorrow before a rest day on Thursday.
Thompson now lies in 12th position overall and although he admits he doesn't expect things to get any easier, he believes he still has plenty to give before the business end of the regatta.
He said: "It's a tough venue and I'm sure it's only going to get tougher with the conditions we're expecting so I've got to keep plugging away and try to improve a little bit. We've still got a long way to go in this regatta.
"It was another really tricky day. It was actually pretty decent breeze again, but the problem was the range of the wind shifts was still quite large. Again I battled away and had a few decent comebacks but it's still not the results I'm after."
The Laser leaderboard is headed by 2008 Worlds silver medallist, Julio Alsogaray (ARG) with 2012 Worlds silver medallist, Tonci Stipanović (CRO) sitting in second and New Zealand's Sam Meech in third.
Racing for the Lasers resumes at 5pm (BST) tomorrow. The Laser class is scheduled to contest an 11 race series, with two races per day on 8, 9, 10, 12 and 13 August before the final one off medal race on Monday 15 August.
To follow Thompson's fortunes at Rio 2016 visit www.rya.org.uk/Rio2016, follow @BritishSailing on Twitter and like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/britishsailingteam