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Email a friendBritish sailors ease to Star class victory
BEST FRIENDS: Sailing duo Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson have known each other for 25 years.
Beijing 2008: IAIN PERCY and Andrew Simpson rounded off another impressive Olympic campaign for Great Britain's sailors when they claimed victory in the Star class on Thursday to collect their team's fourth sailing gold and sixth medal overall in China.
The British pair finished fifth in the medal race, but they managed to surge past Sweden's Fredrik Loof and Anders Ekstrom, who dropped from first to third in the standings after finishing the race in last place.
That result allowed Brazil's Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada, who came in third, to pip the Swedes for the silver medal.
With the medal, Britain's sailors surpassed the five that they won in Sydney and Athens when they were also top of the sailing medal ranking.
The British pair trailed two points behind the Swedes at the start of the double-points medal race and only needed to finish ahead of their rivals to snatch the gold.
It was the British boat that enjoyed the better start after blocking the Swedes behind the committee boat at the start line, but Loof and Anders Ekstrom battled back to round the first mark in fifth, one spot and three seconds in front of Percy and Simpson.
But the British had better position on the first leeward run and moved up to second at the halfway mark, with a seven-second advantage over the Swedes.
Knowing that they just needed to hold off the Swedes to clinch the gold, Percy and Simpson covered Loof and Ekstrom on the upwind beat, slipping back to seventh but increasing the gap over the Swedes, who had dropped to last place.
They moved up to fifth at the finish, 44 seconds behind winners Poland, to seal yet another victory on the water for Team GB.
A jubilant Percy said: "It's more special because I'm doing it with my best mate of 25 years. To cross the line after all we've been through it just adds so much more to it."
Simpson revealed that the pair had been confident about delivering another gold to the British haul.
He said: "Basically, we knew we'd win this time because we wanted it more than anyone else.
"It's a fantastic feeling. There's no words to describe it."
Team GB sailing manager Stephen Park was elated by the result, describing it as the "icing on the cake" for the team.
He also reserved high praise for Simpson, who, at 31, was competing in his first Olympics.
He said: "He's a brilliant sailor. I'm really over the moon for him, particularly as he has spent the best part of his life as the understudy and playing second fiddle to Ben Ainslie and Iain Percy, two of the best sailors of their generation."