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OLYMPIC UPDATE – Day 5 saw the leading Sailing contenders push their medal claims, but Australia’s Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen are among those taking nothing for granted.
They are refusing to get carried away with their position at the top of the 49er standings.
The pair came into London 2012 as strong favourites for gold and have so far lived up to the billing, with a 13-point gap separating them and second-place New Zealand after six races.
Outteridge and Jensen took a second and a bullet – sailing terminology for a victory – in today’s racing, yet they will not be getting ahead of themselves.
‘There’s a long way to go, we’ve only done six races so it’s like a normal day two for us,’ said Outteridge, who is used to three races a day.
‘A lot happens on day three, four and five. We’ve got another two races in the harbour tomorrow with similar kind of winds and we have to keep doing what we’re doing.
‘All it takes is one bad day and you can lose 20 points very quickly. At the moment things are going nicely but we’re not going to get ahead of ourselves.’
At the moment things are going nicely but we’re not going to get ahead of ourselves.
Nathan Outteridge
While remaining philosophical about the standings, Outteridge was pleased with how they performed on the water today.
‘We had some nice starts,’ he said. ‘The breeze was quite shifty so it wasn’t as easy as it was yesterday.
‘We had to do a few more tacks and gybes and we were doing good at just getting ourselves in the right position to get round the top mark in the top five.
‘And from there we had a bit of boat speed and were able to just chip away. It wasn’t very simple but we got in the right spots at the right time.’
Jensen echoed the skipper’s comments, adding: ‘We’re getting good starts and getting good lanes and just staying out of trouble in general.
‘Nath’s getting the shifts right a lot of the time and we seem to have decent speed and it’s all going well and we’re not making any mistakes.’
In the day’s other action, Dorian van Rijsselberge continued to dominate in the men’s RS:X competition.
The Dutchman got a win in the first race to emphasise his dominance so far in the event.
Van Rijsselberge was undone in the day’s final race, finishing third as Nick Dempsey of Great Britain secured a photo-finish victory over Greece’s Byron Kokalanis.
Reigning Laser gold medallist Paul Goodison showed real grit to overcome debilitating back pain and claw himself up to sixth in the standings.
Belgium’s Evi Van Acker enjoyed a good day in the Laser Radial as she won the first race and then followed up with fifth.
Australia hold a 100 per cent record in the Elliott 6m Match Racing, while Marina Alabau Neira of Spain is in a commanding position in the Women’s RS:X
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