Paul Elvström's record seemed to be made for eternity. The legendary Dane's record is 52 years old. Elvström won four gold medals between 1948 and 1960, first in the Firely (1948) and then three times in the Finn Dinghy. Since then, no one has been able to knock him off the throne of the best Olympic sailor of all time. Has his time now come?
On Sunday, from 3 pm German time, there will be a showdown on the public course "The Nothe" at the foot of the fortress of the same name between the leading Finn sailor Jonas Hogh-Christensen and the man who wants to break Elvström's record: Ben Ainslie won his first silver medal in the Laser in 1996. In 2000, he sailed to his first Olympic victory in Sydney in a legendary final thriller against Robert Scheidt - also in the Laser. Two more gold medals followed. Now the Brit in the Finn dinghy is on the brink of his career highlight, having made an impressive comeback after a shaky start to the regatta and minimised the points gap to the Dane to two points with his victory in the tenth race. He was helped by the Dutchman Pieter-Jan Postma, who had been criticised the day before, who managed to get between Ainslie and Hogh-Christensen on the last downwind section and thus significantly improved Ainslie's starting position.
Two points behind the Dane means that Ainslie "only" has to be one place better than his Danish challenger in the final. Ainslie has thus opened the door to a duel that he has won more than once in the past. It should be noted, however, that third-placed Pieter-Jan Postma could still be in contention for the medals. That is, if Ainslie and Hogh-Christensen - embroiled in their expected duel - fall too far behind in the field of ten finalists. For example, if the two finish second last and last, Postma could even win gold with a victory in the final or a second place. Jonas Hogh-Christensen is therefore not entirely wrong when he says: "Ben and I have to sail well, because we are not alone out there without danger."
Ainslie refused to be drawn into the cards ahead of the most important day of his sailing career, promising only: "It will be fascinating". And he was looking forward to the battle in his home arena: "It's very exciting to sail for gold in front of your own fans."
No-one doubts that Ainslie will try to get to grips with his opponent Jonas Hogh-Christensen using all the means permitted on the water, provoke him into making a mistake and man-hunt him before the start. "He will unpack his bag of tricks before the start," Hogh-Christensen, who says he last gained experience in match racing as a teenager, suspects. Nevertheless, the likeable red-bearded Scandinavian remained optimistic: "I spoke to my coach about this possible scenario before the Olympic Games. I'm going into the final as the leader. You couldn't have a better starting position. I'm sure of the bronze medal. That feels good. But I'm sailing for gold here."
On the way to his potential Olympic victory, the 31-year-old son of North Sails CEO Jens Christensen, who is also well known in Germany, received an unexpected phone call two days ago. On the phone was 84-year-old Paul Elvström, who wished Jonas Hogh-Christensen luck. "He didn't do it so much because of his record," says Hogh-Christensen, "he just said that he hopes I sail well and win and wished me luck." Can the "Great Dane", as he has long been known in the British press, stop "Big Ben" and defend Elvström's record?
The German Olympic starters still lack the necessary experience to match the serenity of Ben Ainslie before Weymouth. The young team is struggling to catch up with the world's best with varying degrees of success, and was initially slow to get going again on Friday, but then attracted attention with outstanding individual placings.
The best result was achieved by the 49er sailors Tobias Schadewaldt and Hannes Baumann, who took the first German victory of the day off Weymouth. With third, first and tenth place, the Kiel team moved up to 14th place four races before the medal final. After a botched start with an early start and two capsizes, Schadewaldt and Baumann have now regained hope of reaching the medal race of the top ten teams after all. Five points separate them from tenth place. "Sailing was fun today," reported a beaming Tobias Schadewaldt, "I'm fit again after my illness. Then I'll be able to do more. We were stronger in the duels and carried our good starts through to the end." The change of course also suited the German duo: "'The Nothe' suits us better because it turns more and feels more like Kiel."
The Berlin star boat sailors Robert Stanjek and Frithjof Kleen improved to seventh place with ninth and fourth place and thus secured their participation in the medal race of the star boats on Sunday from 2 pm German time, but no longer have a chance of precious metal. The men from Norddeutscher Regatta Verein and Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee start the final with a total of 64 points and eleven points behind the fourth-placed Norwegians, but also have strong pursuers such as New Zealand's world champions Hamish Pepper and Jim Turner with 66 points breathing down their necks.
Foresailor Kleen was already positive before the final: "We lacked the final coolness here, but we are not dissatisfied. Everything is wide open between fourth and ninth place on Sunday. The podium will probably look exactly like it did in China." The top favourites for the medal race are Great Britain's Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson, who had already relegated Robert Scheidt/Bruno Parda from Brazil and Freddy Loof/Max Salminen to silver and bronze four years ago and will also be chasing gold this time with an eight-point lead over the same Brazilians and with breathtaking downwind speed.
Kathrin Kadelbach from Berlin and Friederike Belcher from Hamburg were the last German team to start the Olympic regatta on Friday. They initially only saw the back of the 470 fleet on their Olympic debut after capsizing and opened the series with an unpleasant penultimate place among 20 dinghies. "We were probably a bit overzealous in the first race," reported Friederike Belcher. The ladies from the Seglerhaus am Wannsee club and the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein didn't have to fret about their nervous mishap for long. With second place, a convincing tactical performance and impressive speed downwind, they came back confidently and moved up to tenth place.
Laser sailor Simon Grotelüschen from Lübeck only crossed the finish line in 20th place in his seventh race, but was then able to catapult himself into sixth place with fourth place. With two races to go before the double scored Laser medal race on 6 August, the medical professional is 27 points behind bronze. "The gap to the front is very wide. I don't look too closely at the results list. I just have to sail two clean races tomorrow," said Grotelüschen. Laser Radial helmswoman Franziska Goltz continues to sail in the Olympic area in search of the fast wave and slipped back to 26th place. Ferdinand Gerz and Patrick Follmann from Munich are not dissatisfied in 15th place after four races, but want more. "Speed is not our problem," said co-skipper Patrick Follmann, "but when it comes to strategy and tactics, we haven't found the right concept yet." His helmsman Ferdinand Gerz from the German Touring Yacht Club explained: "We could do better if our starts were better."
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
