Golden glow for NZ with race to spare

Burling and Tuke ‘absolutely stoked’ to be top of podium

From the moment they arrived in Rio, Kiwi 49er pairing Peter Burling and Blair Tuke were considered gold medallists-in-waiting. Yesterday, they made that status official, locking down the gold medal with a race to spare after extending their lead over the fleet to an unassailable 34 points heading into tomorrow’s medal race.

The result capped off four years of dominance in the 49er class for the brilliant young pairing, who have not been beaten in a major regatta since finishing second to Australian crew Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen in London four years ago.

Burling and Tuke’s performances in Rio have been a microcosm of their unprecedented run over the past four years.

The four-time world champions have been ruthlessly consistent in this regatta, with their worst finish of the 12 races being seventh, ensuring their rivals never really got a lookin.

They continued in the same vein yesterday, recording finishes of third, fourth and fifth to push an 18-point buffer at the start of the day out to beyond 30.

Burling said he and Tuke were determined to secure the gold yesterday and underline their stranglehold on the high performance skiff class.

“We’re absolutely stoked, it makes life so much nicer when you don’t have to win it on the last race,” he said. “After those first two races we had a look at the scores and made sure we did enough in that last race to have it done.”

The pair now have a day off to relax ahead of the medal race tomorrow, and plan to enjoy the company of friends and family as they reflect on the four years of sacrifice it has taken to turn London silver into Rio gold.

“It hasn’t quite set in yet, but we’re just super happy to come to Rio and put the performance down we know we’re capable of,” said Burling.

“To put it all on the line and for it all to come together is pretty special.”

Defending Olympic champions Outteridge and Jensen are ranked third heading into the medal race, with the German crew of Erik Heil and Thomas Ploessel in the silver medal position.

Burling and Tuke capped off a brilliant day on the water for Kiwi crews, with Sam Meech claiming New Zealand’s first official sailing medal of the Rio Games when he took out bronze in the Laser class.

Ranked in third position heading into the doubles points medal race, Meech needed to finish inside the top five to guarantee himself a medal.

The Kiwi delivered, finishing fourth in a dramatic medal race to You would think standing atop the Olympic podium would be confirmation you’ve pretty much clocked your sport.

But for women’s 470 pairing Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie, winning gold in London four years ago wasn’t enough.

The duo, collectively known as Team Jolly, felt like they had unfinished business to attend to in become the first New Zealander to win a medal in the highly competitive Laser class. The Laser class is the biggest fleet at the Olympics, with 46 sailors competing.

With plenty of jockeying for position in the fleet, Meech showed impressive composure to ensure he maintained his podium spot.

Two-time Olympic champion Robert Scheidt, of Brazil, and French Herald triple Olympian Jean Baptiste Bernaz needed Meech to finish well down in the 10-boat final to have any chance of grabbing bronze themselves.

“I saw them slowing down and waiting for me, they were trying to slow me down to get me back in the fleet,” Meech told NZ Newswire.

“That was a little scary. But eventually they had to worry about each other too so I managed to survive.”

Meech’s sister Molly, who is partnered with Alex Maloney in the 49er FX class, is a chance to join him on the medal table. The duo are fourth heading into tomorrow’s medal race, just one point off the top three sailors, who, incredibly, are all level on 46 points after 12 races.

With the fifth-place French crew nearly 30 points back, it sets up a stunning winner-takes-all finale to the