 Tom Slingsby wins Gold 2012 Olympics
Vicki Hughes, Tuesday, 7 August 2012
Tom Slingsby wins Gold
Congratulation to Tom Slingsby, winning the Gold medal in the Laser Class at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Tom Slingsby wins London 2012 Olympic Games gold medal
Craig Heydon, Tuesday, 7 August 2012
Tom Slingsby has won gold in the Laser class on a historic day for Australian sailing at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Slingsby’s gold was Australia’s first in the Laser class and followed a dominant display from the five-time World Champion throughout the regatta.
Laser
Tom Slingsby went into the Laser medal with a 14 point lead over Cyprus’s Pavlos Kontides, with the Australia having to ensure he finished within six boats of Kontides to claim the gold.
Slingsby put the pressure on Kontides early, shadowing his every move and once he got ahead made the race difficult for the Cypriot.
The pair crossed the line ninth and 10th but that didn’t matter, Slingsby had the gold medal.
“It’s an amazing feeling, words really can’t describe it,” said Slingsby. “I’ve worked hard for so long now, last time I put in so much hard work and came away with nothing. This time I put in so much more work and finally I’m going home and knowing that all the sacrifice over the years wasn’t for nothing this time, I’ve got a gold medal.
“If I didn’t do well at these Olympics I would definitely hang up the shoes,” he said. “Last time I’d won everything, I’d won World Championships, World Cups, European Championships, everything going into China and so the Olympics was the only thing left. Coming out of that knowing that there was a four year wait for redemption was pretty daunting. I’m glad I stuck with it and had another crack.”
Slingsby said that having his family and friends present made the victory even sweeter.
“It means so much more having your friends and family, you’d feel empty if you came here and did well but had nobody to share it with,” said Slingsby. “Tonight at the Cove we can all go there and celebrate and it’s the best feeling knowing that they’re here to celebrate with me.”
The 27-year-old said that he went into the medal race with a plan in mind having watched the first finals unfold on Sunday.
“I was thinking that I might just go and sail my own race but I went out to the Nothe yesterday and watched the Finns and the Stars and I saw how easily you can lose a lead,” said Slingsby. “I saw the gold medal slip through a couple of couple of guys fingers yesterday, so I just said to myself that I’m not going to let that happen to me. I wasn’t going to give him in an inch, if he could have lost silver I might have been a bit easier on him.”
from report on YA website
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