SAILING: London 2012 has heralded a new beginning for Australian sailing. Unprecedented success for our sailors has seen them win three gold and a silver medal in a week that saw the Aussies dominate the Olympic regatta and finish as first sailing nation.  

For the Australian sailors it is their most successful Olympic campaign yet.  The previous best, two gold, a silver and a bronze at the Sydney 2000 Games has been beaten in the waters off Weymouth and Portland.  

Malcolm Page is also the first Australian to win back to back gold medals in sailing, having won the gold in Beijing in the mens’ 470 class and then backing that up with gold here in the same event with Mathew Belcher.  For Page, London 2012 will be his final Olympic Games and it is a fitting end to a celebrated Olympic career.  

For Tom Slingsby these games were the opportunity to right the wrong from Beijing where he finished 22nd.  A gold medal here was well deserved after reinvigorating his campaign following Beijing.  

Similarly for Nathan Outteridge, who with Iain Jensen took gold in the 49er class.  Outteridge painfully missed out on the gold in Beijing after capsizing on the approach to the finish line.  This week he and crewman Jensen left nothing to chance, having a large enough lead to be assured of the gold medal before the medal race.  

For the Australian women’s match racing team of Olivia Price, Nina Curtis and Lucina Whitty a tight final in the women’s match racing saw them narrowly miss out on the gold medal after an action packed five race final series that went down to the final race.  For the young Aussie crew a silver medal was a great achievement for a team who have only been together since 2011.  

Other great performances from the Aussies saw the women’s 470 crew of Elise Rechichi and Belinda Stowell finish seventh overall.  Rechichi, a gold medallist from Beijing, and Stowell, a gold medallist from Sydney, only teamed up at the end of 2011 and had an amazing race against the clock to make it to London. Rechichi has already indicated that she’s looking forward to Rio. 

For women’s windsurfer, Jessica Crisp, London 2012 will be her last Olympic Games.  At the age of 42, this event has been Crisp’s fourth consecutive Olympic Games and she put in a fine effort to finish in 11th place. 

Brendan Casey will be another Aussie likely to be lining up in Rio in the Finn class after finishing 13th here.  

Megan McKay in Weymouth

Olympics.com.au