Olympic Sailing Laser Medals - GOODison as GOLD

Qingdao, China - All eyes were on the Lasers today, as the lightweight singlehanders took to the water for the 2008 Olympic medal race. Paul Goodison of Great Britain went into the final event with only one rival, setting up a match race with Sweden's Rasmus Myrgren. Goodison's goal: block Sweden, and that's precisely what happened at the back of the pack, right from the start.

It looked like Sweden took the initiative at the start line. While the front runners were racing in earnest, the back of the fleet was playing a game of snooker, and Goodison was fighting to keep the gold, while Myrgren was at first attempting for the gold himself, and later just trying to make the podium. The result: Goodison took the gold medal, and Sweden dropped from second place going into the medal race, to sixth overall at the end.

The fun was at the front of the fleet, with a push for the podium that brought out the best sailing the lasers saw all week, despite the low winds and high currents. Andrew Murdoch of New Zealand dominated the course, taking every mark and the win, but it wasn't enough to get him to the podium. Slovenia's Vasilij Zbogar was right behind NZL at every mark, taking second just five ticks behind the leader, and earning an ecstatic Zbogar an Olympic Silver Medal.

The story was similar for Italy's Diego Romero, third in the race, and third on the podium. By a slim one point overall, Italy took the Bronze, and Portugal was left in fourth place. Then there was swimming, as the victors dragged each other (and their coaches) into the water for a celebratory post race dunking, to the cheers of the crowd, the loudest of whom were Paul's family and what looked to be the entire British sailing team. Said Goodison on the support: "It’s a massive team effort. At one point during the regatta, I was not at the top of the board for a couple of days but my team reminded me to have faith in myself. I really would like to thank them for helping me pull through.”

Laser Class - Men - Olympic Overall Results

1 GBR Paul Goodison 78 63

2 SLO Vasilij Zbogar 95 71

3 ITA Diego Romero 111 75

4 POR Gustavo Lima 103 76

5 NZL Andrew Murdoch 121 81

6 SWE Rasmus Myrgren 105 83

7 ARG Julio Alsogaray 123 92

8 FRA Jean Baptiste Bernaz 138 104

9 CAN Michael Leigh 137 109

10 NOR Kristian Ruth 147 109

- YC for YachtPals.com

READ MORE ABOUT THE LASER CLASS SAILBOAT, OR SAILING AT THE Olympics:

• Olympics (all news, photos, boat information, and blogs about sailing at the Olympics)
• Interview with Sarah Mergenthaller of the US Olympic Sailing Team
• Olympic Sailing 2008 - Laser and Laser Radial Sailboats
• Sailors in the Spotlight - 2008 Olympic Sailing Teams
• Opening Ceremonies at the Olympics - US Olympic Sailing Team
• Sailing at the 2008 Olympics - Laser and Laser Radial Results
• Sailing at the Olympics - Finn Race Results
• Sailing at the Olympics - 49er Race Results
• Sailing at the Olympics - Yngling Race Results
• Sailing at the 2008 Olympics - Tornado Race Results
• Sailing at the 2008 Olympics - Star Class Race Results
• Olympic Sailing Medals Finn Class - Ainslie, Railey, Florent
• Olympic Sailing Medals - 49ers Can't Find Gold
• Olympic Sailing Yngling Medals - Great Britain takes the Gold
• Olympic Medals 470 - Aussie, Aussie!

OLYMPIC SAILING RSS FEED

-- Sailing at the 2008 Olympics - Quick Look at Olympic Sailing Classes --

Multihull Sailboat = Tornado
Skiff Doublehanded Open Sailboat = 49er
Women's Windsurfer = RS:X
Women's One Person Sailing Dinghy = Laser Radial
Women's Two Person Sailing Dinghy = 470
Women's Keelboat = Yngling
Men's Windsurfer = RS:X
Men's One Person Sailing Dinghy = Laser
Men's One Person Sailing Dinghy = FINN
Men's Two Person Sailing Dinghy = 470
Men's Keelboat = Star

Sailing Video: Paul Goodison of the Great Britain Olympic sailing team.