Aussies win sailing gold after barnstorming final finish in Tokyo
Aussie golden duo Will Ryan and Mat Belcher confirmed their gold in spectacular fashion on Wednesday after a barnstorming race in the men's 470 at the Tokyo Olympics.
Having already wrapped up the medal and only needing to cross the line for the gold, the pair put an exclamation mark on their spot and stormed home to win the final race.
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Swedes Anton Dahlberg and Fredrik Bergstrom won silver and bronze went to Spain's Jordi Xammar and Nicolas Rodriguez Garcia-Paz.
Belcher became Australia's most successful sailor at an Olympics after his record-breaking gold medal and it took the nation's overall tally to 15 for the Games.
The pair claimed silver in Rio, while the medal marked three straight for Belcher in the 470 class.
Fans went crazy over Australia's 15th gold and a slice of sailing history.
GOLD FOR AUSTRALIA! 🥇
Will Ryan and Mat Belcher are officially Olympic gold medallists in the 470 Sailing class, winning the Medal Race in the process. 🇦🇺#Tokyo2020 #Sailingpic.twitter.com/dfMPj83c0A— SEN 1116 (@1116sen) August 4, 2021
Sealed with a win!
Victory in the Medal Race confirms that Mat Belcher and Will Ryan have won GOLD in the Men's 470 🥇🇦🇺#GoAusSailors #TokyoTogether #Sailing
📸 @SailingEnergy/@worldsailing pic.twitter.com/0Us82qS6h7— AusSailingTeam (@AusSailingTeam) August 4, 2021
Matt Belcher and Will Ryan officially get their golden 🥇 #sailing moment and do it in style with victory in the 470 medal race.
The pair claimed Silver 🥈 together in Rio and that’s 3 straight #Olympics medals for Belcher in 470 Class.
🥇 #Tokyo2020
🥈 Rio 2016
🥇 London 2012 https://t.co/XzVWx9cQ7v— Mark Gottlieb (@MarkGottlieb) August 4, 2021
What do you do when you know you will win gold and only had to finish the race? You WIN the race anyway. Matt Belcher & Will Ryan..... outstanding effort to win 🥇 in the Men's Sailing 470 #AUS #sailing #Tokyo2020 #TokyoTogether #7Olympics #Olympics
— Clint Stevens (@clintstevens123) August 4, 2021
GOLD GOLD GOLD! That’s 15 for the Games! #Sailing #Tokyo2020
— Drew Semmens (@drewie_5) August 4, 2021
How good is #Sailing @AUSOlympicTeam
— Brock Taylor (@brocktaylor05) August 4, 2021
Gold for Australia in the Men’s 470 two-man sailing. Australia 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/7mdUzDXv4u
— Phil Gould (@PhilGould15) August 4, 2021
It's confirmed! Another 🥇 gold to Australia as Belcher and Ryan win the #Sailing 470 class medal race with a win after already carrying an unassailable lead!
What a pair, what a performance. #Tokyo2020 has now delivered 15 gold medals, the third most by @AUSOlympicTeam!— Braedyn Smith #GoMatildas (@BraedynSmith) August 4, 2021
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