Sailing

[Lord Camomile]

Bit late to the party, but some excellent gamesmanship going on between Ben Ainslee and 'the Dane' who has been bothering him all week.

Medal race - he who wins takes the gold

 

[Maltin]

They mentioned on the commentary Danish sailor Paul Elvstrom who won gold medals at 4 consecutive Olympics (one of only 3 people to do) and what Ainslie is hoping to emulate today.

He competed at 8 Olympics from 1948 to 1988 (winning between 1948 and 1960), which seems pretty incredible. Apparently 3 others have also competed over 40 years (2 sailors and a fencer). And one Japanese equestrian competed at 2 Olympics 44 years apart (1964 and 2008).

Also read on the Wikipedia page that there is a Canadian equestrian who is appearing at a record 10th Olympics this year which is similarly amazing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_athletes_with_the_most_appearances_at_Olympic_Games

 

[Maltin]

Well done Ainslie

 

[twentythreedom]

Quality

 

[Lord Camomile]

Bloody hell, got a bit tight at points there, but well done Ainslie, seriously good job

 

[Corax]

How come he's got Gold when they've tied on points? What's the deciding factor?

 

[editor]

Can't believe he came back to win. Incredible performance.

 

[Lord Camomile]

How come he's got Gold when they've tied on points? What's the deciding factor?

Position in the medal race, i.e. the race they just, um, raced. So because Ainslie finished ahead in that race, he beat the dirty cheating Dane ( [sic] ) overall.

 

[editor]

Gushing BBC guy: 'Ben, you're greatest sailing Olympian ever, the best there is etc etc'

Ben: 'er, cheers mate'

 

[Maltin]

Gushing BBCY guy: 'Ben, you're greatest sailing Olympian ever, the best there is etc etc'

Ben: 'er, cheers mate'

they just showed that on BBC One. An embarrassed "Yeah" from him in response

 

[astral]

The commentary on the sailing has been complete comedy gold. You'd think that they'd get someone who had some measure of what they were talking about. The Commentators were at times just making things up.

Excellent racing by Ainslie though, his final race on Friday was spectacular.

 

[Lord Camomile]

Gushing BBC guy: 'Ben, you're greatest sailing Olympian ever, the best there is etc etc'

Ben: 'er, cheers mate'

they just showed that on BBC One. An embarrassed "Yeah" from him in response

Much better interview with Pinsent, seemed to be basically much more understanding between two great sportsmen. Though there was an awkward hug at the end

he he, oh wow, now they've got McEnroe and Johnson to try and talk about it

 

[Espresso]

Alan Wells was dead honest "I know nothing about sailing..."

 

[Lord Camomile]

Yay, Belgian fans swearing on live TV, huzzah!

 

[marty21]

Ainslie was complaining earlier in the week about the Dane and another boat ganging up on him - said they had made him and they shouldn't have made him then he pulls off a bit of gamesmanship himself a few times blocking the Dane to allow someone else to finish ahead of them -

 

[astral]

Actually what he said was the the Dane and the other boat claimed that he had hit a mark, which he said he didn't hit. This meant that he took a penalty turn, rather than risk disqualificaiton, which is what would have happened if their protest had been upheld.

Blocking the Dane a la the final race is fairly standard practise in regatta racing, specifically among those who understand match racing principles.

 

[mattie]

Hmm. some controversy (well, a steward's enquiry) into the lady's quarter finals match-racing.

They may have pipped Russia in a leg Russia were awarded. Russia took it 3-2, with the 'pipping' taking place with GB 2-1 up, which would put GB through.

 

[zippyRN]

Actually what he said was the the Dane and the other boat claimed that he had hit a mark, which he said he didn't hit. This meant that he took a penalty turn, rather than risk disqualificaiton, which is what would have happened if their protest had been upheld.

Blocking the Dane a la the final race is fairly standard practise in regatta racing, specifically among those who understand match racing principles.

if at the end of a series (of races) your position and that of your nearest rival is down to ' i need to finish ahead of him' you match race him and let others past who don't pose a risk , the risk with trying to all out win in that scenario is that you end up on the wrong end of a local wind shift and get pushed down the field by that where if you are breathing down your rivals neck and stay close if you get messed up by the wind etc you both suffer ...

as for suggesting infringements that's stretching the sportsmanship principles of the rules but it is acknowledged that it does happen ...