Southampton alumnus Giles Scott tightened his grip on a possible Olympic gold medal after extending his lead atop the standings of the Finn sailing class in Rio.
The four-time world champion has opened up an 18-point gap over Slovenian Vasilij Žbogar after six races.
“I don’t think there is one person who has been massively consistent so you know you really have to fight for every single position, regardless of where you find yourself,” said Giles. “There is a long way to go in this regatta and it’s going to be tough.”
The Finn sailors have a rest day today (Friday, 12 August) but are back on the water over the weekend before the medal race on Tuesday.
Fellow alumnus Ben Saxton and his sailing partner Nicola Groves have also kept their medal charge in the Nacra 17 firmly on track after a series of impressive performances.
Ben and Nicola sit tied on equal points at the top of the leaderboard with Australians Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin who are in pole due to the number of wins they have after six races. The British pair also have a rest day today after completing four races on Thursday due to previous postponements. The Nacra 17 resumes with three races on Saturday and Sunday ahead of the medal race on Tuesday.
Current student Lily Xu remains firmly in contention for a medal in the Women’s Laser Radial event in Rio. After six races, Lily had slipped from first to fourth place with graduate Alison Young improving her fortunes by rising to thirteenth overall. Following a rest day yesterday, Lily and Alison resume competition today aiming for a spot in the medal race on Monday.
Pavlos Kontides is still in the hunt in the Men’s Laser competition despite falling from fifth to tenth overall. He also had a rest day on Thursday and is back on the water later this afternoon, UK time.