Preview of Race Day 10 at Rio Games

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (August 17, 2016) – After years of training, grit and determination, dedication, sheer hard work and huge sacrifices, today will decide the line-up of sailors who will claim the Olympic gold, silver and bronze medals in the 470 Men and 470 Women events in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Protests last night have impacted the final leaderboard top 10, although not changed the potential medalists.

The forecast currently indicates 9-12 knots when the 470 Women Medal Race kicks off at 1300 hours, and 9-16 knots for the 470 Men when their Medal Race gets underway at 1400 hours, local time.

Women’s Two Person Dinghy – 470
Great Britain’s Hannah Mills/Saskia Clark wrapped up gold after race 10 yesterday, and now just need to start and finish the medal race without penalty. Behind them the battle for silver and bronze is open, with plenty of scorecard permutations possible and a finely balanced fight on the cards.

The team that have endured some brutal moments in an otherwise stellar week are the 2012 Olympic Champions Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie (NZL). Despite counting a disqualification in their scores, some excellent results including four race wins see the Kiwis in silver medal position on the leaderboard. However, so close are the points that they go into the double-points Medal Race effectively tied with Annie Haeger and Briana Provancha (USA) and reigning World Champions Camille Lecointre and Hélène de France (FRA).

Just two points back are Ai Kondo Yoshida and Miho Yoshioka (JPN) and Afrodite Zegers and Anneloes van Veen (NED) are still well within striking distance.

470 Women – Medal Race Top 10
1. Hannah Mills/Saskia Clark (GBR) – 28 pts
2. Jo Aleh/Polly Powrie (NZL) – 48 pts
3. Annie Haegar/Briana Provancha (USA) – 49 pts
4. Camille Lecointre/Helene Defrance – 50 pts
5. Ai Kondo Yoshida/Miho Yoshioka (JPN) – 52 pts
6. Afrodite Zegers/Anneloes van Veen (NED) – 59 pts
7. Tina Mrak/Veronika Macarol (SLO) – 65 pts
8. Fernanda Oliveira/Ana Barbachan (BRA) – 68 pts
9. Lara Vadlau/Jola Ogar (AUT) – 74 pts
10. Agnieszka Skrzypulec/Irmina Gliszczynska (POL) – 96 pts

Men’s Two Person Dinghy – 470
In the 470 Men, a three-way battle will unfold in the double points medal race between Sime Fantela/Igor Marenic (CRO), Panagotis Mantis/Pavlos Kagialis (GRE) and Mathew Belcher/Will Ryan (AUS).

Mat Belcher and Will Ryan (AUS) have been the class act of this four-year-cycle up until the start of this year. But in this Olympic year, Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic (CRO) have since become the ones to beat after winning a number of major regattas including the 2016 World Championships. Most people still had the Aussies pegged as favorites going into these Games, but the Croatians have been exceptional in Rio, a sixth place being the worst score they have carried through from the ten-race qualifying series. After seeing their fellow countryman Tonci Stipanovic win Croatia’s first ever medal in sailing yesterday, these childhood friends are looking to see if they can improve on Laser silver with a historic 470 gold.

Panagiotis Mantis and Pavlos Kagialis (GRE) have come on strong towards the end of the week and sit 11 points off the lead. Just two points behind them are the Australians so a case of who beats who to determine which of these crews gets the nicer medal.

470 Men – Medal Race Top 10
1. Sime Fantela/Igor Marenic (CRO) – 27 pts
2. Panagotis Mantis/Pavlos Kagialis (GRE) – 38 pts
3. Mathew Belcher/Will Ryan (AUS) – 40 pts
4. Stuart McNay/Dave Hughes (USA) – 67 pts
5. Anton Dahlberg/Fredrik Bergstrom (SWE) – 69 pts
6. Luke Patience/Chris Grube (GBR) – 69 pts
7. Matthias Schmid/Florian Reichstaedter (AUT) – 73 pts
8. Sofian Bouvet/Jeremie Mion (FRA) – 79 pts
9. Paul Snow-Hansen/Daniel Wilcox (NZL) – 92 pts
10. Yannick Brauchli/Romuald Hausser (SUI) – 92 pts

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