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Park upbeat about Olympic sailing hopes

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Rob Burgess 28 August 2002

STEPHEN PARK, the Royal Yachting Association’s Olympic Manager, says that the British sailing team’s progress is "as good as we can hope for at this stage of the Olympic cycle", following a successful performance at the pre-Olympic test event in Greece last week.

The British squad, which is supported by UK Sport through the World Class Performance Programme, returned home from the Agios Kosmas Sailing Centre in Athens with five medals, including a gold for Ben Ainslie.

Ainslie’s remarkable form continues in his first season of competitive sailing in the Finn class.

The 25-year-old, who won Olympic gold in the Laser class in Sydney, has already won the Finn European and World titles so far this year.

In Athens, Ainslie held a comfortable 33-point lead over teammate Andrew Simpson going into the last day and steered clear of trouble in the final two races to secure the gold medal.

"I am really pleased as it is a good way for me to finish the season and I am happy with how I sailed," he reflected.

"There are a few things that I have learnt from this venue and the conditions that I can work on in training over the winter to help me to improve. I think the standard of the fleet is getting better all the time and I will have to improve too if I want to stay on top."

Simpson sailed equally well on the final day, recording two third places to finish second overall, securing the silver medal ahead of Brazil’s Joao Signorini.

Britain’s second silver medal was won by Paul Goodison in the Laser class.

The European bronze medallist’s podium chances seemed to be dead and buried after a disastrous string of results on the penultimate day, but two wins in the final two races moved him up to second place overall behind Daniel Birgmark of Sweden.

There were also bronze medals for Chris Draper and Simon Hiscocks in the 49er class, and Shirley Robertson, Inga Leask and Sarah Ayton in the Yngling.

"We came here with the focus on process goals; looking to learn about the conditions and the systems to be used by the race teams," added Olympic Manager Park. "As it has turned out, the results have been a success too.

"To leave the first test event with five medals is as good as we can hope for at this stage of the Olympic cycle. The sailors and support staff have worked hard over the last two weeks and hopefully the results are just a sign of things to come."

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