Some just had to turn up, others had to finish breakfastAlex Brown in Qingdao | August 19, 2008Attachment:
ht_sailingwomen_wideweb__470x326,0.jpg [ 37.85 KiB | Viewed 521 times ]
Womens 470 Sailing crew Tessa Parkinson and Elise Rechichi take gold and a high five.
Photo: Andrew MearesTHEY left Fushan Bay with matching gold medallions, but the build-up could scarcely have been more contrasting for the Australian men's and women's 470 sailors.
Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page entered yesterday's medal race as the world's top-ranked crew and with a near unassailable points lead in the Olympic regatta. To claim gold on the Yellow Sea, the duo needed only to attempt to make the starting line. Favourites don't come shorter priced. Accordingly, the pair ate merrily and slept a full nine hours on Sunday night.
The women's 470 crew were another matter. Although Tessa Parkinson and Elise Rechichi had established a similarly commanding lead before the medal race, the West Australian duo were overcome by nerves entering an event for which they almost failed to qualify, and at a venue that almost ended the career of Rechichi.
"It was probably the longest morning of our lives," she quipped. "It was very difficult eating my breakfast. I think it took me about 10 minutes to eat one piece of pineapple."
Only two years earlier, Rechichi competed in the Olympic test regatta in Qindao and, after coming into contact with the murky waters of Fushan Bay, was struck down with a mystery virus that ravaged her already slight frame. In all, she lost 20 per cent of her body weight and slept upwards of 18 hours a day on account of the illness. Many doubted she would return to elite competition.
Return she did, but her battles were far from over. A snapped mast at last year's world championships in Cascais, Portugal, placed her and Parkinson on the brink of Olympic elimination. A points countback later confirmed they would be the last crew to qualify for Qindao. A podium finish would have been considered a remarkable achievement; gold a fanciful dream.
In the end, the gold proved a formality. Only the unlikely double of a Dutch victory and an Australian last place could have denied them yesterday, and when the Brazilians crossed first, Parkinson and Rechichi knew the gold for which they had endured so much was theirs, even if they were in ninth place at the time.
"There have certainly been some challenges in the last four years, no doubt about that," Rechichi said. "That's synonymous with anyone in an Olympic campaign. If it wasn't for the hard times where you had to overcome it, then it wouldn't be worth getting in the end and it wouldn't be so special. It makes it all the better."
The men's 470 proved a far more comfortable affair. Wilmot and Page avenged their disappointing 12th place in Athens by leading yesterday's race from wire-to-wire, in what was almost certainly their last race together. The win was the crew's 12th straight in medal races, and was greeted with rapturous applause by the large Australian contingent on the shoreline, which included Steve Waugh. "[Athens] was probably a driving force behind us," Page said. "We obviously finished well down the ladder from what we expected and wanted. We certainly didn't want to let it affect our performance. We've been pretty relaxed all week. Today was a little bit easier, and … we just did whatever we wanted to do out there. It was great fun."
Wilmot announced he would stand down from 470 racing after sealing gold but left open the possibility of a return in a different class. When asked his immediate plans, the Sydney sailor replied, "getting fat", in acknowledgement of the strict diet the crew had observed.
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