Olympic Sailing Yngling Medals - Great Britain takes the Gold

Qingdao, China - Who'd have thought it?  Well, almost everybody, but that doesn't take any of the glory from the fact that Britain's Yngling Girls (aka:  Three Blondes in a Boat; the Sequel), have taken home Olympic Gold in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.  This makes two of the three, Sarah Ayton, and Sarah Webb, double-gold medalists for this event, and Pippa Wilson a first-time Olympic champion.  From start to finish, these ladies of Britannia ruled the waves, and earned their way to the top of the podium.

“I’m lost for words, it is such a relief, our experience was everything. We’ve had so many supporters who have made such a difference along the way and we just want to thank everyone,” said Sarah Webb, with special praise reserved for their coach Paul Brotherton.  She added: "It has been a fantastic journey. It is so exciting with a little relief and, of course, loads of joy."

The Silver Medal went to the Netherlands, whose team selection process made for a great surprise in the team of of Mandy Mulder, Annemieke Bes and Merel Witteveen.  The Dutch rotate nine sailors on three boats prior to selection, and the Official Olympic team only started practicing as a unit a few weeks before the games. A solid team nonetheless, the Dutch were the only Yngling sailors on the podium to have actually won a race in the series, and they won three.

Greece took the Bronze medal, and as longshots among the fleet, are pleasantly surprised to find themselves on the Olympic Podium.   Sofia Bekatorou, Sofia Papadopoulou, and Virginia Kravarioti earned every bit of their medals with solid performances, and were clearly the dark horses in this race.  “We feel great for the 10 million Greeks back home. It's wonderful!” exclaimed Sofia Bekatorou.

Yngling Class Overall Results at the 2008 Olympics 

1 GREAT BRITAIN
Sarah Ayton
Sarah Webb
Pippa Wilson
Net Points: 24

2 NETHERLANDS
Mandy Mulder
Annemieke Bes
Merel Witteveen
Net Points: 33

3 GREECE
Sofia Bekatorou
Sofia Papadopoulou
Virginia Kravarioti
Net Points: 48

4 GERMANY
Ulrike Schuemann
Ute Hoepfner
Julia Bleck
Net Points: 56

5 AUSTRALIA
Krystal Weir
Karyn Gojnich
Angela Farrell
Net Points: 57

6 RUSSIA
Ekaterina Skudina
Diana Krutskikh
Natalia Ivanova
Net Points: 58

7 FRANCE
Anne Le Helley
Catherine Lepesant
Julie Gerecht
Net Points: 62

8 USA
Sally Barkow
Carolyn Howe
Deborah Capozzi
Net Points: 63

9 CHINA
Xiaqun Song
Yanli Yu
Xiaoni Li
Net Points: 65

10 NORWAY
Siren Sundby
Lise Birgitte Fredriksen
Alexandra Koefoed
Net Points: 71
 

- Olympic Sailing Medals Yngling - Great Britain takes the Gold by B. Hampton for YachtPals.com

READ MORE ABOUT THE Yngling SAILBOAT OR SAILING AT THE Olympics:

• Olympics (all news, photos, and boat information about Olympic sailing)
• Olympic Sailing 2008 - Laser and Laser Radial Class Sailboats
  
• Olympic Sailing 2008 - Tornado Class Catamarans
• Olympic Sailing 2008 - Yngling Class Sailboats
• Olympic Sailing 2008 - The Star Class Sailboats
• Olympic Sailing 2008 - The FINN Class Sailboats
• Olympic Sailing 2008 - The 470 Class Sailboats
• Olympic Sailing 2008 - The 49er Class Sailboats
• Sailors in the Spotlight - 2008 Olympic Sailing Teams
• Opening Ceremonies at the Olympics - US Olympic Sailing Team
• Interview with Tom Slingsby - Sailing Lasers for the Australian Olympic Sailing Team
• Interview with Sarah Mergenthaler - Sailing the 470 for the US Olympic Sailing Team
• Sailing at the Olympics - Finn Race Results
• Sailing at the Olympics - 49er Race Results
• Sailing at the Olympics - Yngling Race Results
• Sailing at the Olympics - Laser and Laser Radial Results
• Sailing at the Olympics - 470 results
• Sailing at the Olympics - Tornado Race Results
• Sailing at the Olympics - Star Class Race Results
• Olympic Sailing Medals Finn Class - Ainslie, Railey, Florent
• Olympic Sailing Medals - 49ers Can't Find Gold

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