Olympic sailing: The big Scheidt show in Rio

As has often been the case recently, Brazil's super sailor Robert Scheidt did not get off to the best of starts at his home Olympic Games in Guanabara Bay. The 43-year-old exceptional athlete opened his sixth Olympic start with a 25th place. But here's the thing: In Robert Scheidt's case, a drop-out like this in the preliminary round is no cause for alarm. And so the king of laser sailors followed up his unsuccessful start in Rio with a race win to correct the picture. Although he again only crossed the finish line in 27th place in race three, he has been steadily stalking the podium ever since.

Almost inconspicuous, one might say. Until Scheidt suddenly found himself in second place with 50 points two races before the medal final and was now considered the hottest gold contender, just three points behind 30-year-old Croatian Tonci Stipanovic (47 points). Robert Scheidt already has five Olympic medals (2 x gold, 2 x silver, 1 x bronze), which he has won in five Olympic appearances to date. Every Olympic start is a hit - he knows how to do it. Even at an advanced Laser age, when you can see the physical strain on his face in action, Scheidt is and remains the measure of all things in the classic single-handed dinghy. The basis of all his success is his love of purist Laser sailing.

The Laser fleet will start the last two races on Saturday before the medals are decided in the final on Monday. There is no one who does not believe that Scheidt will add one last Olympic medal to his collection. What colour it will be will be decided by the Brazilian's skill. Philipp Buhl, who already had Scheidt portraits in his school exercise books in his youth, is fighting for a place in the final today. In eleventh place overall, the Sonthofen native must score points on Saturday if he wants to achieve his minimum goal. The 26-year-old can only reach for the hoped-for medal with small sailing miracles, as he is 32 points behind bronze. Although he has a reputation as the "happy chaser" and catch-up king, this is a very long way even for the great fighter Buhl. In any case, it remains exciting for the Lasers.