First Gold Medals Won At Olympic Regatta

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FIRST GOLD MEDALS WON AT OLYMPIC REGATTA

Poland and Hong Kong Clinch Prematurely; USA Maintains Favored Positions

SAVANNAH, GA (July 28, 1996)--On the seventh day of the Olympic Regatta, elation shared the stage with frustration as 458 sailors from 73 countries competed on the waters off Savannah. Pride exuded from Poland's Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Hong Kong's Lai Shan Lee after they clinched gold prematurely in the Finn and women's Mistral classes. (The USA's hopefuls in these classes--Will Martin of Charleston, S.C. and Lanee Butler of Aliso Viejo, Calif.--currently are in 22nd and 12th respectively.) Disappointment beset others, more because of lengthy starting delays inflicted by light 5-8 knot winds than the tactical wizardry commanded by the same breeze during racing.

After hours of waiting on the water, sailors completed one race each in Finns, 470s, women's Mistrals, Solings, Stars and Tornados. The Europes and Lasers had a day off for the second day in a row, while the men's Mistral races were pre-empted completely by the light air. While Kusznierewicz and Shan Lee rendered themselves mathematically impossible to catch, the USA maintained medal-potential positions in five events.

In Tornados, John Lovell/Charlie Ogletree (New Orleans, La./Kemah, Texas) are tied for the silver-medal position with Austria after posting a third-place finish today. 470 men's division sailors Morgan Reeser and Kevin Burnham (Wilton Manors/Coral Gables, Fla.) are holding onto fourth place after finishing 16th in today's race. They and their counterparts in the women's division--Kris Stookey (Darien, Conn.) and Louise Van Voorhis (Webster, N.Y.)--were notably disappointed with the day.

"I was delirious from the sun," said Stookey, who sailed to a 15th-place finish. "We couldn't get out of our own way, so I'm glad there wasn't a second race." The duo slipped from a tied first-place position with Spain yesterday to third overall today. Reeser and Burnham started off the line in last place and fought to16th.

Soling sailors Jeff Madrigali/Kent Massey/Jim Barton (San Anselmo/Santa Barbara/Fairfax, Calif.), with one race to go, are solidly among the top six, which are due to proceed to a match racing series on the 31st. The team finished ninth today and is in third overall.

Mark Reynolds/Hal Haenel (San Diego/Los Angeles, Calif.) are currently ninth in Stars. Mike Gebhardt (Ft. Pierce, Fla.), in eighth overall, has an outside chance at medaling if two more scheduled races are realized. Europe sailor Courtenay Becker-Dey (Rye, N.Y./The Dalles, Ore.) and Laser sailor Nick Adamson (Newport Beach, Calif.) are in third and 17th place respectively.
(end)


1996 Olympic Regatta
DAY 7 Results (Top-three and USA)
July 28, 1996 

Position, Skipper/Crew (Hometown), Country, Finish Positions (throwout), Cumulative Score.

EUROPE (28 boats)-- NO SCHEDULED RACING TODAY
1, Kristine Roug, DEN, 2-1-3-2-1-2-(8)-1; 12.
2, Margriet Matthijsse, (PMS)-2-1-10-2-1-1-4; 21.
3, Courtenay Becker-Dey (Rye, N.Y./The Dalles, Ore.), USA, 1-8-2-4-7-6-3-(14); 31.

FINN (31 boats)
1, Mateusz Kusznierewicz, POL, (10)-4-(20)-4-9-1-2-1-1; 22.
2, Sebastien Godefroid, 13-(24)-5-5-4-3-(16)-7-2; 39.
3, Hans Spitzauer, AUT, 4-1-10-7-11-4-5-(DNS)-(12); 42.
22. Will Martin (Charleston, S.C.), USA, (PMS*)-22-18-12-21-2-(PMS*)-25-
17; 117.

470 MEN (36 boats)  
1, Yevhen Braslavets/Ihor Matviyenko, UKR, 2-2-3-1-(16)-5-1; 14.
2, Dmitriy Beryozkin/Yevgeniy Burmatnov, RUS, 13-(25)-5-2-3-1-11; 35.
3, Vitor Rocha/Nuno Barreto, POR, 5-10-(17)-7-4-8-9; 43.
4, Morgan Reeser/Kevin Burnham (Wilton Manors/Coral Gables, Fla.), USA, (20)-9-6-9-1-11-16; 52.

470 WOMEN (22 boats)   
1, Theresa Zabell/Begona Via Dufresne, ESP, 4-2-(11)-8-2-1-3; 20.
2, Yumiko Shige/Alicia Kinoshita, JPN, 3-7-(13)-6-1-3-2; 22.
3, Kris Stookey/Louise Van Voorhis (Darien, Conn./Webster, N.Y.), USA, 2-8-2-1-4-12-(15); 29.

 LASER (56 boats) --NO SCHEDULED RACING TODAY
1, Ben Ainslie, GBR, (27)-4-7-2-2-1-2-1; 19.
2, Robert Scheidt, BRA, 2-(9)-3-6-1-3-7-2; 24.
17(t), Nick Adamson (Newport Beach, Calif.), USA, 9-(DSQ**)-13-7-13-13-10-PMS; 122.

MISTRAL MEN (46 boats)--RACING CANCELLED TODAY
1, Nikolaos Kaklamanakis, GRE, 5-1-2-6-1-(9)-1; 16.
2, Carlos Espinola, ARG, 2-4-4-2-3-6-(DNS); 21.
3, Gal Fridman, ISR, 1-6-5-3-(10)-1-9; 25.  8, Mike Gebhardt (Ft. Pierce, Fla.), USA, 10-16-3-4-5-(23)-4; 42.

MISTRAL WOMEN (27 boats)
1, Lai Shan Lee, HKG, 3-2-2-2-4-2-(7)-1; 16.
2, Barbara Kendall, NZL, 2-3-6-1-(10)-5-5-6; 28.
3, Jorunn Horgen, NOR, 7-(9)-4-4-3-1-8-4; 31. 12, Lanee Butler (Aliso Viejo, Calif.), USA, 9-15-(18)-7-11-13-1-8; 63.

SOLING (22 boats)
1, Jochen Schuemann/Thomas Flach/Bernd Jaekel, GER, 5-5-2-4-1-(9)-9-6; 32.
2, Andrew Beadsworth/Barry Parkin/Adrian George Stead, GBR, 7-1-7-7-4-1-6-(PMS); 33.
3, Jeff Madrigali/Kent Massey/Jim Barton (San Anselmo/Santa Barbara/Fairfax, Calif.), USA, 1-4-8-2-5-(19)-5-9; 34.

STAR  (25 boats)
1, Torben Grael/Marcelo Ferreira, BRA, 1-6-2-(7)-1-4-(9)-2-6; 22.
2, Colin Beashel/David Giles, AUS, (11)-1-1-1-8-3-2-7-(9); 23.
3, Hans Wallen/Bobbie Lohse, SWE, 4-7-7-(8)-2-1-3-4-(8); 28.
9, Mark Reynolds/Hal Haenel (San Diego/Los Angeles, Calif.), USA, 3-2-5-5-5-(21)-15-(22)-18; 53.

TORNADO (19 boats)
1, Fernando Leon/Jose Luis Ballester, ESP, 2-2-4-(5)-5-2-4; 19. 
2(t), Andreas Hagara/Florian Schneeberger, AUT, 4-3-5-6-1-7-(10); 26.
2(t), John Lovell/Charlie Ogletree (New Orleans, La./Kemah, Texas), USA, 3-4-8-4-4-(11)-3; 26.

*PMS=Premature Start   **DSQ=Disqualified