Olympic Sailing Results – 26 August, 2004

Olympic Sailing Results – 26 August, 2004

Barbara Kendall has finished the Athens Olympics in 5th, while fellow kiwi, 21 year-old Thomas Ashley came in with a top ten result. Racing came to an end overnight in Athens for both of New Zealand’s Mistral board sailors concluding the New Zealand sailing campaign with 5 out of 8 top ten results.

New Zealand’s Final Results:

Barbara Kendall – Women’s Mistral – 5th
Thomas Ashley – Men’s Mistral – 10th

The 11th and final race for the Women’s Mistral fleet got underway after delay in a light 7-8 knots of south-westerly breeze. Kendall placed 4th in this final race which saw the order of the top three change overnight and the current world champion, Italian Alessandra Sensini slip back to take the bronze after starting the day at the top of the leader board.

Kendall is disappointed with the result but has no plans to retire from racing. “I think it’s great that Barbara is positive about the future,” says Yachting New Zealand’s High Performance Manager Pete Lester, “she’s only just 37 and can recognize some other fantastic female athletes still performing into their 40’s.”

French sailor Faustine Merret placed 2nd in the final race which saw her climb from 2nd on the leader board to take out the gold medal, while World Champ Alessandra Sensini from Italy will be disappointed with her 7th placing as she dropped away for the bronze. Yin Jian of China has been performing well throughout the regatta and she clocked up her 4th race win which was enough to take the silver, finishing a mere 2 points behind the gold medallist. It’s yet another indication that we are starting to see the emergence of nations like China into the sailing medal hunt.

Kendall’s young counterpart in the Men’s division, Thomas Ashley maintained his spot in 10th after finishing 11th in the final race last night. Ashley has demonstrated that he can challenge for the top places with 3 third placings over the 11 race regatta.

In a close fought regatta conclusion the order of medals was decided in the final race. Gal Fridman of Israel placed 2nd last night and claimed the gold medal, while Ricardo Santos of Brazil, who had been holding a narrow lead over the fleet had a poor final race finishing 17th and losing his place on the podium.

The local crowd have cause to celebrate as Nikolaos Kaklamanakas improved his standing by one and took silver while Nick Dempsey of Britain won bronze.

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