Olympic Champion!

Marinepool Racing Team sailor Lara Vadlau dominates rest of the sailing world and wins Olympic gold with a record margin!

No wind, storm, light conditions, heavy weather - the sailing venue off Singapore lived up to its reputation as one of the most difficult places to sail and offered the athletes plenty of variety. Almost every day brought a new challenge and while the competitors sometimes had troubles to adapt, Austrias super talent kept her cool.

Always in the top five with one exception, she won 3 out of 12 races and had a 9th as her worst score to discard. In the medal race Lara did not risk too much and sailed a confident race. Fourth over the finishing line in the last race,  she had a margin of 14 points over the second, Dutch sailor Daphne van der Vaart. Bronze went to yet another Marinepool Racing Team member, German Constanze Stolz.

"Today was a real challenge mentally. I knew that basically not much could go wrong any more, but could not be 100% sure", said Lara and described her feelings after the race as enthusiastic and having a deep sense of accomplishment. "The past two years all my thoughts were focused on Gold. I came here to become Olympic champion, everything else was not an issue", the high school student from Konstanz explained her formula for success.

"The venue just asks for mistakes and was very challenging due to the strong currents. I managed to adjust myself to the conditions very quickly, was always among the fastest boats and was tactically very disciplined", Vadlau reported after her win. It was her second important victory this year after the European title in the same class and the Bronze medal at the ISAF Your Worlds in 420.

Constanze Stolz (GER) could secure her Bronze medal virtually last minute. Sailing in second place in the medal race she was given a penalty for pumping and the two 320° turns threw her out of the medal ranks and jeopardized an otherwise superb regatta. A 21st was just enough to beat her Danish competitor by one point and win her Bronze.

In the boys´ fleet in the meanwhile Marinepool Racing Team sailor Florian Haufe (GER) started the day in 2nd closely followed by a number of competitors, the closest of which was Finnish athlete Kaarle Tapper.

Tapper had a bad start and found himself only in the middle of the fleet while Florian rounded the first windward mark in fourth and overtook another 2 boats on the run. The fleet was lead by Justin van Aanholt who won the medal race and Bronze for the Dutch Antilles. Florian sailed conservatively and never got in danger to lose Silver. Gold went to Ian Barrows from the Virgin Islands.

Final Results Byte II Girls after 11 Races, one discard

1. Ian Barrows, ISV, 44
2. Florian Haufe, GER, 60
3. Just van Aanholt, AHO, 62

Final Results Byte II Boys after 11 Races, one discard

1. Ian Barrows, ISV, 44 
2. Florian Haufe, GER, 60 
3. Just van Aanholt, AHO, 62

Official Slideshow Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games, Sailing

Official Website Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games