Robert Scheidt won Brazil’s first gold medal at the Athens Games yesterday, recapturing the Laser title after light and shifting winds had threatened to wipe out deciding races in the Olympic regatta.
Norway’s Siren Sundby claimed her first Olympic gold, enjoying what she called a “stress free day” in the Saronic Gulf after taking a commanding lead going into the finale of the Europe class. Scheidt, his national flag draped round his shoulders, took a congratulatory phone call from Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva when he returned to the marina.
“It was really short because he is a busy man,” joked Scheidt, who won the Laser title at the 1996 Atlanta Games but then lost it in Sydney four years ago to Briton Ben Ainslie. “He said I deserved to win and that everybody in Brazil was happy,” said Scheidt, seven-time world champion. He was touched when his great rival Ainslie came up to him to shake his hand.
“It was a nice gesture and it meant a lot to me,” said Scheidt. “We have a lot of respect for each other.” The pair’s head-to-head battles had provided the highlights of the Olympic regattas at the Atlanta and Sydney Games.
Austrian Andreas Geritzer won the silver and Slovenia’s Vasilij Zbogar took the bronze as Scheidt outsailed his key rivals when it mattered most. Sundby, 21, dominated the Europe class to such an extent that only a major blunder could have loosened her grip on the gold.
But the double world champion, who crossed the line first in five of 10 races, made no mistakes.
“It is the greatest feeling I have ever experienced,” said Sundby, whose brother Christoffer is also competing in Athens in the 49er double-handed dinghy. “I really wanted to sail the final race and cross the finish line ... to then jump into the water and really feel like a champion.”
Sundby finished 19th in Sydney when, by her own admission, she was “too inexperienced”.
Czech Lenka Smidova won silver and the bronze went to Dane Signe Livbjerg.
Sunday’s competition got under way just minutes before a race cancellation deadline that would have meant the medal placings being decided on standings after 10 races.
In the event, the destination of all six medals remained the same as overnight.
Japanese Pros Give Baseball Lesson to Neophyte Host Greece
Japan’s baseball professionals kept their gold medal hopes alive as they whipped host Greece 6-1 yesterday to finish atop the preliminary round with six wins and one loss.
Another top favorite Cuba, who have already booked a semifinal berth with a 5-1 record, were due to meet Italy later in their final game in the eight-nation preliminary round.
Greece bowed out from their first ever Olympic baseball campaign with a smile the day after they wowed a home crowd by outlasting Italy 12-7 for their first victory.
Erik Daniel Papas, one of the Greek Americans stocking the home team, also cracked a solo home-run in the bottom of the seventh inning to help patch up some Greek national pride.
Japan’s run-scoring binge peaked in the top of the seventh with two two-run homers by Kosuke Fukudome and Yoshinobu Takahashi.
“I think we accomplished our goal of introducing baseball to Greece,” said Greece manager Jack Rhodes, an American who usually coaches the US University of North Florida.
Papas, a 38-year-old catcher and former star for the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals in the US major leagues, said: “The team was a disappointment and I was personally very disappointing.”
“However, that home run really felt great,” he said. “For me personally, although I played in the big leagues until 1996, it was a chance for my kids to watch me play and feel proud of their dad.”
In another game on the final day of the preliminary round, Taiwan beat The Netherlands 5-1 to finish fifth with three wins and four losses. The Netherlands slipped to 2-5 and could end up no better than sixth.
Australia and Canada, both assured of berths in the medal round, were also due to clash later in the day.
