Australia is all but guaranteed to win its second gold medal of the Olympic sailing regatta, with Mat Belcher and Will Ryan establishing an insurmountable lead in the men’s 470 class at the Tokyo Games.
Key points:
- Belcher and Ryan hold a 20-point advantage ahead of the medal race
- It would be a second Olympic gold for Belcher should the Australians clinch victory
- Matt Wearn won Australia’s first sailing gold at the Tokyo Olympics last Sunday
Belcher and Ryan hold a 20-point lead over Swedish duo Anton Dahlberg and Fredrik Bergstrom ahead of Wednesday’s medal race, which is worth double points.
The Australians will win the gold if they avoid false-start penalties and contest the medal race.
Australia’s Matt Wearn faced a similar scenario in the men’s laser event, before clinching the gold in Sunday’s medal race.
Belcher and Ryan finished second and eighth in the ninth and 10th races respectively on Tuesday.
The gold would be Belcher’s second after he triumphed alongside Malcolm Page at the 2012 Olympics in London.
Belcher and Ryan teamed up to claim the silver medal at the Rio Olympics in 2016.
Among other results on Tuesday, Australia’s Lisa Darmanin and Jason Waterhouse finished fifth in the mixed nacra 17.
Italy’s Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti won gold.
Australia’s Jake Lilley placed seventh in the men’s finn class, with Great Britain’s Giles Scott claiming victory.
