Ben Ainslie officially wins Britains second Sailing Gold

Its just been announced that Ben Ainslie has won the Gold Medal in the Laser Class. Robert Scheidt's appeal was turned down by the jury, giving Ben the win.

Ben Ainslie brilliantly sailed the Brazilian down the fleet in the last race so that they were last around the windward mark, which was to Ainslie's favour. Scheidt sailed through to 22nd but this was not enough. This is the exact turn around the result from 1996 where Scheidt sailed Ainslie over the start line early to deny Ben the Gold medal then.

Nigel Cherrie's Team GB Report

SAILING MEMBERS OF TEAM GB SECURE ANOTHER FOUR MEDALS

Team GB sailors Shirley Robertson , Ben Ainslie, Iain Percy, Ian Walker and Mark Covell each left the dock this morning at Rushcutters Bay knowing that an Olympic medal of some colour was in their grasp. After a remarkable days racing on Sydney Harbour, Ben Ainslie and Shirley Robertson returned to the marina as Olympic champions while Iain Percy and Ian Walker and Mark Covell are safe in the knowledge that they will receive an Olympic medal although the final colour will be decided tomorrow afternoon.

In the Europe class, 32 year old Shirley Robertson realised a 12 year dream and secured the Gold medal after a heart stopping final two races on course area B. After finishing sixteenth in the first race of the day, while her closest rival Margriet Matthysse (Netherlands) took the penultimate winners gun, Robertson had to finish within four boats of the Dutch 1996 Silver Medallist in the last race to capture Gold

While Matthysse took over the lead on the second downwind leg after a gust propelled her from sixth to first, Robertson sailed solidly through the fleet up to third place to take the Olympic title by two points.

"Once I had spoken to my coach and checked that I'd won the Gold medal I mostly felt relief that it had finished," reflected Shirley. "It still hasn't properly sunk in yet as we don't get our medals until tomorrow night but with the whole British team doing so well I suspect it will be an amazing evening for British sailing".

Despite such a tense build up, Shirley, who has won a medal at every significant sailing event over the last two seasons, remained calm even after using her second discard in the first race this morning. "I felt pretty comfortable before the race and treated it like any other day but I had a bad first race which meant that the points closed up and I knew I had to sail well. In the end she couldn't get far enough ahead and enough boats between us to take the Gold medal off me. I'm obviously really pleased that I held it all together when it got really tough," added Shirley.

Like the rest of the sailing members of Team GB, she acknowledged that the meteorological complexities of Sydney Harbour had presented just as big a challenge as Matthysse. "It's very tricky sailing and completely different to what we're used to at international competitions. You really have to get your head out of the boat, see what's happening and really understand the area and its metrology. It's been an interesting challenge".

For Ben Ainslie, it was Atlanta (1996) all over again as the dual for the Laser class Olympic title came down to Ainslie and four time world champion and 1996 Gold medal winner Robert Scheidt (Brazil).

Once again, the top step on the podium was settled in the final race. Ainslie needed to beat Scheidt by ten points in the final race to secure Gold. With the Brazilian such a consistent sailor under pressure, Ben instead elected to cover his opponent and sail him down the fleet. "We've had so many battles over the years that I think he expected it," explained Ben after racing. If Robert finished worse than 21st (his worst result to date), the Gold medal would belong to Ainslie.

After one general recall and one abandonment, Ainslie covered Scheidt from the beginning of race eleven and forced the Brazilian to make a rash move at the first windward mark where by he gybed into Ainslie's water and didn't give Ben room to avoid a collision. Ainslie protested while Robert broke away and finished in twenty second position which gave Ainslie the provisional Gold medal by one point. The result immediately went to the protest room.

"I thought about the race and decided if I was going to do it that way I was going to have to do a good job. You have to become very single-minded and not have any feelings to go out there and do it," explained Ben.

"I was a bit annoyed that he managed to get away but he had only done that by breaking the rules. There wasn't anything I could do about it, I tried to catch up and managed to at one point but it was in vain as on the last beat he went out to the left and got a large shift which left me behind. From where he was I thought her could get back up to the top twenty, especially in those conditions. I was sailing as hard as I could to get back in front of him but he was also trying as hard as he could".

The international jury announced a little over two hours later that Scheidt would be disqualified from that race and the 2000 Olympic Gold medal in the Laser class belonged to 23 year old Ben Ainslie.

"Any medal at the Olympics is an achievement but for four years I have had my heart set on a Gold medal and trying to beat Robert," said Ben after learning he was officially the Sydney 2000 Laser class Gold medallist.

"Every day of my life over the last three years has been involved in trying to win this Gold medal. It does take a huge amount of effort to get to the top but I've been really fortunate and have had a lot of support from my family, sponsors, the BOA, the RYA and the World Class Performance Programme and it has all made a difference," said Ben.

On the Finn course (offshore course E), Iain Percy added to Great Britain's medal haul as he is now assured of nothing less than the Silver medal. Percy now has to finish in the top five in just one of tomorrow's two races to become an Olympic Gold medallist. "I've got a job to do and I'm going to try and go out and do it in the first race and come in for an early lunch," said Iain this evening.

Ian Walker and Mark Covell are also assured of a top three overall and will be gunning for an Olympic Gold medal too. "It's a life dream to be able to sail for a Gold medal on the last day of the Olympics," remarked Ian Walker.

The Sydney 2000 Olympic Sailing Regatta concludes tomorrow with the second sailing medal ceremony tomorrow evening on the steps of the Sydney Opera House.

Laser: (overall results after 11 races, 2 discards)

More Information:

• YachtsandYachting.com Olympic Sailing Page
• Official Sydney 2000 Website with full results