Giles Scott guaranteed Olympic gold for Team GB in Finn class
By Nadeem Badshah
Last Updated: 14/08/16 10:33pm
Giles Scott is guaranteed an Olympic gold for Great Britain in the men's Finn class.
The 29-year-old won with a race to spare in Rio, and his first place will be confirmed on Tuesday after the conclusion of the event.
Heading into Sunday's races, Scott held a 17-point advantage over his nearest rival Vasilij Zbogar of Slovenia, and scores of eighth and second from the two Finn races at Guanabara Bay has given the four-time world champion an unassailable lead.
Scott's triumph means Britain has won the Finn men's heavyweight dinghy class at the last five Olympics after Iain Percy's success in Sydney in 2000 and Sir Ben Ainslie's golds at Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012.
It marks the most successful day of the Games for Team GB so far, with two golds for Max Whitlock in the floor exercise gymnastics and pommel horse event and gold for Justin Rose in the golf.
Elsewhere, Great Britain's Nick Dempsey brought his Olympic windsurfing career to an end with a second successive silver medal to become the most decorated competitor in the history of the event.
A day after turning 36, Dempsey finished in second place in Guanabara Bay behind Dorian van Rijsselberghe from the Netherlands.
A fine regatta performance meant Dempsey only needed to complete Sunday's men's RS:X medal race to secure silver thanks to his points cushion. He finished fourth on the Pao de Acucar course to finish second to reigning champion Van Rijsselberghe for the second Olympics in a row.
The Briton, who has appeared in five Olympics, won bronze in the Athens Games in 2004 and after the event, hinted he is tempted to compete at the Tokyo Games in 2020.
Asked if he can accept losing to van Rijsselberghe he said: "Yes and no. Yes, because he's probably the best windsurfer there has ever been but no, because I can beat him."
Meanwhile, Britain's Bryony Shaw finished ninth in the women's windsurfing event.
