Sailing

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G S B Tot
1 CHN 51 21 28 100
2 USA 36 38 36 110
3 RUS 23 21 28 72
4 GBR 19 13 15 47
5 GER 16 10 15 41
6 AUS 14 15 17 46
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Take a look at the British athletes heading for Beijing

Gold target for GB sailors

Sailing boss eyeing four medals for British sailors.

  • Ainslie: Star sailor

    Ainslie: Star sailor

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Team GB's sailing manager Stephen Park says he has the best ever line-up within his camp as they look to rule the waves at the Olympics.

The Brits sailed well in Athens four years ago with gold in two events but this time around they are targeting double that amount this time around in Beijing.

Park says that the British sailors have left no stone unturned in their training schedule and this attention to detail should result in gold medals.

After relaxing in a camp in Shanghai, the British team head to the sailing venue in Qingdao full of confidence for the upcoming regatta.

"We're confident going forward to the Games - very confident that we've got a fantastic team, we've got a group of sailors who have really left no stone unturned in their quest for success," said Park.

"They are prepared, physically, technically and mentally, and so that gives us confidence that we should hopefully have a good Games."

Four golds

Of the 11 events, Team GB want four golds, with their star Ben Ainslie eyeing up a hat-trick of gold medals as he takes on the Finn class, while Sarah Ayton and Sarah Webb want a second title in the Yngling class alongside youngster Pippa Wilson.

"The four-medal target is realistic for us," added Park. " We could easily win more than that, but equally we could easily win less than that. The margins between winning a medal and not winning a medal are so small.

"I don't think at all that [four medals] is a conservative option - we recently increased our target from three medals to four medals and I think if we win four medals at this Games I'll be very happy."

After five sailing medals in both the last two Olympics, Park is aware that the rest of the field will be watching out for the British sailors.

"Lots of the other teams have been working very, very hard - everyone's looking to knock us off the podium and there's no doubt that we're the team to beat at the moment, so we're not resting on our laurels at all," he said.

"It's going to be variable, it's going to be changeable, it's certainly going to be interesting - but the way that we look at it is that it's the same for everyone.

"We're focussed on the task, our athletes are not about to get distracted and they're looking forward to some great racing."

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