Letter from Qingdao: Counting the Metal
'Paul Goodison rounds the first mark ahead of Rasmus Myrgren (SWE) after Goodison match raced his nearest rival off the Medal race course in the Mens Laser class 2008 Olympics'
Richard Gladwell
Greetings from Qingdao, on this the 11th day of the 2008 Sailing Olympics.
With seven of the Medal races now completed, the 2008 Ollympics is just two days away from conclusion.
Already the medal table counting has begun, as Olympic program mandarins strut the Olympic environs comparing medals won against promises made to funder's - and evalusating whether or not they have met their promised quota.
After this regatta the 2004 medal equation of 33 medals won by 20 countries looks unlikely to be repeated.
The reason being that the British Powerhouse has been joined by Australia, with a number of others likely to win multiple medals.
There is no doubt that the Olympics have entered a new professional era, with funded and salaried sailors becoming the norm, if success is to be achieved.
The difference between and Olympic and and an America's Cup campaign has become very blurred, and at the Australian and British level, there is no real difference.
Significantly neither was represented at the last America's Cup and do not suffer from the double vision that such a commitment brings to a nation trying to do both events.
What the Olympic accountants do not see is the anguish and circumstance behind the medal counts. A competition decision can have a huge effect on a competitor's end result, and on a medal tally.
Two examples spring to mind, the first being the organisers ability to only run one race on Course C on a day when there was good wind - swinging the balance in favour of those who had performed well in the light airs, and removing the opportunity for catchup for those who had not.
The other occurred today when the second placed competitor in the Laser class was match raced off the course in the Medal race - losing all chance of the silver and finishing sixth.
While this is always a risk under the Medal Race format, in Qingdao it is easy to do - just start on starboard, pin your rival so they can't tack. take them out into the tide, while the rest of the fleet goes for the less tide zone along side the seawall, and it's all over Red Rover.
Good Sailing!
Richard Gladwell
by . 
Perth, WA
