Skiff (49er), Men

At the 2008 Olympics Nathan Outteridge and Ben Austin of Australia had the skiff gold medal well in hand in the final race when they capsized only 100 metres from the finish. Outerridge was back, this time partnered by Iain Jensen, and he looked to avenge the bad memories. The 10-race opening series decided the gold and silver medals as the Australians opened a 28-point lead on New Zealand’s Peter Burling and Blair Tuke, who were in turn 32 points ahead of the rest of the field. The only suspense was for the bronze medal, which seemed to be set for Denmark, who were third after the opening series. The medal race was held on the Nothe course in light and shifty nine-knot winds, and Austria’s Nico Delle Karth and Niko Resch, who were only seventh entering the final race, dominated through the early sections and appeared set to move up to the bronze medal. But Danes Allan Nørregaard and Peter Lang, only seventh after four legs, steered hard left on the final upwind leg to pass Australia and moved back into the bronze medal position. Australia’s victory was their third sailing gold medal of the London Olympics. One other minor change in this class was that it was raced as a men-only event after being a mixed class in 2000-08.