Olympic sailing: Australia win men's 470 class gold

Mathew Belcher (L) and Malcolm Page (R) of Australia celebrate after winning gold in the Men’s 470 Sailing

Weymouth/Portland - Australian sailors Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page won the men’s 470 class Olympic gold here on Friday, the third for Australia at the Games sailing regatta following men’s laser and 49er.

The Australians finished the medal race second but ranked first overall with 22 net points. Britain’s Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell took the silver with 30 net points. The bronze went to Argentina’s Lucas Calabrese and Juan de la Fuente with 63 net points, reports Xinhua.

Belcher said after winning the gold: “Recognition for all the hard work we’ve put in, and for sailing in Australia. It’s much better to sail than to watch. For myself to come away and have gold is unbelievable.”

New Zealand’s Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie didn’t start well in the medal race but they still snatched the gold in women’s 470 class with 35 net points.

Before the medal race, they levelled on 33 points with Britain’s Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark. However, the New Zealand’s duo finished the medal race first, the British duo in ninth place and second overall. The bronze medal went to Lisa Westerhof and Lobke Berkhout from the Netherlands.

“It’s not sunk in yet. We are overwhelmed. It’s never finished until you finish and now it is time to celebrate,” said Powrie after winning the gold.