USA Continues Battle For Medals In Five Olympic Yachting Disciplines

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USA CONTINUES BATTLE FOR MEDALS IN FIVE OLYMPIC YACHTING DISCIPLINES

Finns, Stars, Mistrals Complete Series

SAVANNAH, GA (July 29, 1996)--The U.S. Olympic Yachting Team holds strong today in the Europe, 470 (men and women), Soling and Tornado classes after turning up empty-handed in Finns, Stars and Mistrals, which yielded medal winners today. Brisk 10-12 knot breezes under sunny skies allowed for a revised schedule of races to be completed. Though not originally planned, competition took place in all divisions to make up for weather-induced cancellations that have been prominent over the last seven days.

In the hunt for gold are women's 470 sailors Kris Stookey (Darien, Conn.) and Louise Van Voorhis (Webster, N.Y.) who finished second in today's single race and are one point behind the leader from Spain, 1992 Olympic gold medalist Theresa Zabell and crew Begona Via Dufresne. "It was crowded at the first few marks," said Stookey, "but by the third windward leg we had gained and were in second. On the reach, we extended and on the run we held . . . and relaxed a little."

Tornado gold has been secured by Spain's Fernando Leon with crew Jose Luis Ballester, but the silver medal is up for grabs. The USA's team of John Lovell/Charlie Ogletree (New Orleans, La./Kemah, Texas) has every intention of fighting off five other countries who, mathematically, could fill the spot going into tomorrow's final race. "It's so close, we can't cover any one boat," said Lovell about tomorrow's strategy. "We just have to jump out and get ahead." The duo won its first race today, following it with a throwout tenth for a third place in overall standings.

Barring disaster, a Europe gold medal is a certainty for Denmark's Kristine Roug. Intent on silver is Courtenay Becker-Dey (Rye, N.Y./The Dalles, Ore.), whose second-place finish in race two today showcased her tenacity. "My mission was to move forward, at a fast pace," said Becker-Dey about picking off several boats to get to the top of the fleet. Overall, she posts a third, seven points behind the representative from The Nederlands.

In the 470 men's division, USA's Morgan Reeser and Kevin Burnham (Wilton Manors/Coral Gables, Fla.) finished fourth in today's single race to move into sixth overall. The duo lost a protest last night for tacking too close and was disqualified in race seven. With three races to go, their five-point lag behind silver-positioned Russia could--with smart sailing--be rendered negligible.

Laser sailor Nick Adamson (Newport Beach, Calif.), with one race to go, currently is in 15th overall.

Secure in Solings

The USA's Soling sailors Jeff Madrigali/Kent Massey/Jim Barton (San Anselmo/Santa Barbara/Fairfax, Calif.) finished second in the fleet racing portion of their Olympic event. The trio sailed a throwout 12th today, mathematically securing their position in the process. "We had a chance to win the regatta," said Madrigali, "but keeping Beadsworth (the skipper for Great Britain, who finished 14th today) out of the top two was a little easier." The Madrigali team and five others proceed to the match racing (one-on-one) event. Because of their top-two finish, the USA representatives get a bye, along with the leaders from Germany, in the quarter-final round.

Going Home in Stars, Mistrals and Finns

The USA's past medalists in Star and men's Mistral missed their chances for repeat performances. The 1992 Star gold team of Mark Reynolds/Hal Haenel (San Diego/Los Angeles, Calif.) finished eighth overall after turning in a fifth-place final race today. 1992 Mistral silver medalist Mike Gebhardt (Ft. Pierce, Fla.) gave his all over two races today, posting an 11th and a fourth to improve his overall position to sixth from yesterday's eighth.

"I'm not disappointed at all," said Gebhardt, who had an outside chance at taking the bronze going into today. "I can't be dissapointed about doing something people don't usually get to do. If we had this regatta again, it'd be a completely different set of results. That's the beauty of sailing."

Mistral women's representative and 1992 Olympian Lanee Butler (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) finished 11th while Will Martin (Charleston, S.C.) took a 23rd.
(end)

1996 Olympic Regatta
DAY 8 Results (Top-three and USA)
July 29, 1996 

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

EUROPE (28 boats)
1, Kristine Roug, DEN, 2-1-3-2-1-2-(8)-1-(8)-7; 19.
2, Margriet Matthijsse, NED, (PMS)-2-1-10-2-1-1-4-(12)-5; 26.
3, Courtenay Becker-Dey (Rye, N.Y./The Dalles, Ore.), USA, 1-8-2-4-7-6-3-
(14)-(9)-2; 33.

FINN (31 boats)--COMPLETED
GOLD, Mateusz Kusznierewicz, POL, (10)-4-(20)-4-9-1-2-1-1-10; 32.
SILVER, Sebastien Godefroid, 13-(24)-5-5-4-3-(16)-7-2-6; 45.
BRONZE, Roy Heiner, NED, (21)-7-6-11-6-11-1-(12)-6-2; 50.  
23. Will Martin (Charleston, S.C.), USA, (PMS*)-22-18-12-21-2-
(PMS*)-25-17-19; 136.

470 MEN (36 boats)  
1, Yevhen Braslavets/Ihor Matviyenko, UKR, 2-2-3-1-(16)-5-1-9; 23.
2, Vitor Rocha/Nuno Barreto, POR, 5-10-(17)-7-4-8-9-5; 48.  
3, Dmitriy Beryozkin/Yevgeniy Burmatnov, RUS, 13-(25)-5-2-3-1-11-20; 55.
6, Morgan Reeser/Kevin Burnham (Wilton Manors/Coral Gables, Fla.), USA, 20-9-6-9-1-11-(DSQ)-4; 60.

470 WOMEN (22 boats)   
1, Theresa Zabell/Begona Via Dufresne, ESP, 4-2-(11)-8-2-1-3-10; 30.
2, Kris Stookey/Louise Van Voorhis (Darien, Conn./Webster, N.Y.), USA, 2-8-2-1-4-12-(14)-2; 31.
3, Yumiko Shige/Alicia Kinoshita, JPN, 3-7-(13)-6-1-3-2-11; 33.

 LASER (56 boats) 
1, Robert Scheidt, BRA, 2-(9)-3-6-1-3-(7)-2-1-1; 19.
2, Ben Ainslie, GBR, (27)-4-7-2-2-1-2-1-(16)-2; 21.
3, Peer Moberg, NOR, 1-7-9-1-9-(10)-1-(21)-3-5; 36.
15, Nick Adamson (Newport Beach, Calif.), USA, 9-(DSQ**)-13-7-13-14-10-(DSQ)-27-14; 107.

MISTRAL MEN (46 boats)--COMPLETED
GOLD, Nikolaos Kaklamanakis, GRE, 5-1-2-6-1-(9)-1-1-(DNF); 17.  
SILVER, Carlos Espinola, ARG, 2-4-4-2-3-6-(DSQ)-2-2; 19.  
BRONZE, Gal Fridman, ISR, 1-6-5-3-(10)-1-(9)-4-1; 21.
6, Mike Gebhardt (Ft. Pierce, Fla.), USA, 10-(16)-3-4-5-(23)-4-11-4; 41.

MISTRAL WOMEN (27 boats)--COMPLETED
GOLD, Lai Shan Lee, HKG, 3-2-2-2-4-2-(7)-1-(DNC); 16.
SILVER, Barbara Kendall, NZL, 2-3-(6)-1-(10)-5-5-6-2; 24.
BRONZE, Alessandra Sensini, ITA, 1-(8)-1-6-7-(15)-14-5-1; 28.
11, Lanee Butler (Aliso Viejo, Calif.), USA, 9-(15)-(18)-7-11-13-1-8-4; 53.

SOLING (22 boats)
1, Jochen Schuemann/Thomas Flach/Bernd Jaekel, GER, 5-5-2-4-1-(9)-(9)-6-2-9; 34.
2, Jeff Madrigali/Kent Massey/Jim Barton (San Anselmo/Santa Barbara/Fairfax, Calif.), USA, 1-4-9-2-5-(19)-5-9-1-(12); 36.
3, Andrew Beadsworth/Barry Parkin/Adrian George Stead, GBR, 7-1-8-7-4-1-6-(PMS)-12-(14); 46. 

STAR  (25 boats)--COMPLETED
GOLD, Torben Grael/Marcelo Ferreira, BRA, 1-6-2-(7)-1-4-(9)-2-6-3; 25.
SILVER, Hans Wallen/Bobbie Lohse, SWE, 4-7-7-(8)-2-1-3-4-(8)-1; 29.
BRONZE, Colin Beashel/David Giles, AUS, (11)-1-1-1-8-3-2-7-(9)-(PMS); 32.
8, Mark Reynolds/Hal Haenel (San Diego/Los Angeles, Calif.), USA, 3-2-5-5-5-(21)-15-(22)-18-5; 58.

TORNADO (19 boats)
1, Fernando Leon/Jose Luis Ballester, ESP, 2-2-4-(5)-5-2-4-3-(PMS)-3; 25.
2, Mitch Booth/Anerew Landenberger, AUS, 1-5-6-2-14-(17)-1-1-(PMS)-2; 32.
3, John Lovell/Charlie Ogletree (New Orleans, La./Kemah, Texas), USA, 3-4-8-4-4-(11)-3-12-1-(10); 37.

*PMS=Premature Start   **DSQ=Disqualified