Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen are already Olympic champions - the Australians won gold in the 49er off Weymouth in 2008. Now they want to do it again and take on New Zealand's high-flyers Peter Burling and Blair Tuke before Rio de Janeiro, who they recently beat for the first time at a regatta in Rio after three years of dominance by the Kiwis.
Nathan Outteridge's commitment as helmsman of the America's Cup team Artemis is on hold for a few weeks. The Swedes paid dearly for this with their last place at the ACWS regatta off Portsmouth last weekend. Nevertheless, the whole team is keeping its fingers crossed for the two Aussies for the Olympic Games. As are the duo's family and friends, who are now causing a furore on social media with a video.
All over the world, sailors are posting cheerful messages and receiving lots of fan mail in the last two weeks until the Olympic Games. Berlin 49er sailors Erik Heil and Thomas Plößel give a brief preview of their Olympic premiere in a Video. The skiff hopefuls are particularly grateful to their team and their loyal sparring partners Justus Schmidt and Max Boehme, who are keeping Heil/Plößel going strong after their defeat in the national elimination.
Erik Heil and Thomas Plößel wrote on their Facebook page: "Your support is great. You are great in your role as sparring partners. Thanks to you, we were able to work in a co-operative atmosphere that other Olympic sailors can only dream of. We're talking about Justus Schmidt and Max Boehme, the 2015 European champions, who overtook us and led the national elimination, missed out by a hair's breadth in the end and always prioritised fair play." Victoria Jurczok and Anika Lorenz were equally grateful to their sparring partners Jule and Lotta Görge, who have been in Rio de Janeiro in recent weeks to prepare for the Olympic Games in the 49erFX.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
