Southampton alumnus Giles Scott is guaranteed to claim the Olympic Finn gold medal even though the final medal race is not until tomorrow (Tuesday, 16 August 2016).
Sunday evenings scores of eighth and second in the Finn class’s two races out on the Niterói ocean course outside of Guanabara Bay leave the four-time World Champion Scott unassailable at the top of the leader board for Tuesday’s Medal Race.
The medal race is worth double points so even if Scott, 29, was disqualified and scored the worst possible result of 22 points, he still couldn’t be beaten to the gold medal.
“With the conditions we have had this week have been, I have just managed to sail more consistently than everyone else at the top of the fleet and has landed me in this brilliant situation where I have the points gap I have before the medal race. It’s just a privilege to be in this position.”
Scott’s victory means that Britain has now won the Finn men’s heavyweight dinghy class at the last five Olympics – Iain Percy (Sydney 2000), Ben Ainslie (Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012) and Scott (Rio 2016).
The Finn Medal Race is scheduled for to take place on the Pão de Açucar (Sugarloaf) course from 1pm BST on Tuesday.
Southampton Alumni Alison Young and Pavlos Kontides both race today (Monday 15 August) in their respective classes. Young saw her medal hopes dashed on Saturday but aims to end her Olympic dream on a high. Kontides has an outside chance of attaining a bronze in the Men’s Laser class.
