Nick Scandone & Maureen McKinnon Tucker have won the the inaugural Two-Person Paralympic Sailing Competition in the SKUD 18
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Paralympic News Service (As Amended by IACA), 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games - Qingdao, China, Saturday, 13 September 2008
An exciting finale to the 2008 Paralympic Sailing Competition in Qingdao ended with gold medals going to Canada's Paul TINGLEY in the 2.4 Metre, US pair Nick SCANDONE and Maureen MCKINNON-TUCKER in the SKUD18 and German trio Jens KROKER, Robert PREM and Siegmund MAINKA in the Sonar.
North America shone on the final day of the Paralympic Sailing Competition, with Canada and the USA ending up tied at the top of the medal tally with one gold and one bronze apiece. Along with Germany’s gold medal, the other medals winning nations were France, who won two silver medals after very tightly contested finishes in both the 2.4 Metre and Sonar fleets, and Australia, who won one silver and one bronze.
Nick SCANDONE and Maureen MCKINNON-TUCKER had already secured the gold medal in the Two-Person Keelboat – SKUD18 event even before today’s racing began, with an unassailable lead over the rest of the fleet. However the battle was still on for the remaining medals. After several days of extremely light winds, conditions improved in Qingdao for the final day of racing, with the fleets starting their first race in 7 knots of southeasterly breeze, which increased to just over 10 knots by the end of the day.
The Australian crew of Dan FITZGIBBON and Rachael COX who seized their chance in the stronger breezes, winning the first race of the day and then finishing second in the next to secure themselves the silver medal. With the Australians excelling, the Canadian team of John MCROBERTS and Stacie LOUTTIT had to settle for bronze.
After an emotional medal ceremony US Head Coach Betsy ALISON commented, “It’s been a long and hard road with the athletes. It was a collective team effort, from families to coaches to support staff. Everyone who was there was part of that medal and victory today.”
The medal ceremonies marked the conclusion of the largest-ever Paralympic Sailing Competition. The Closing Ceremony of the 2008 Paralympic Games will be held in Beijing on 17 September.
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