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Reynolds Exploits Brazilian Mistake

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The United States won its first sailing gold medal of the Games when Mark Reynolds and Magnus Liljedahl pounced on an error by defending Olympic Star class champion Torben Grael of Brazil.

The Americans had been in third place before the decisive race and crossed the finish line in second, giving them the gold medal by a single point from Ian Walker and Mark Covell of Britain.

Brazil skipper Grael threw away his chance of a second successive gold medal when he was disqualified for crossing the start line early.

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Grael had led by five points before the race and had been among the most consistent competitors in the two-handed keelboat class before the disastrous mistake. Grael and crewman Marcelo Ferreira had to settle for the bronze medal.

Meanwhile, Iain Percy secured Britain’s third sailing medal of the Games when he cemented an unbeatable lead in the Finn dinghy class after the 10th race of the 11-race series.

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