2002 Olympic Qualification Regatta Starts Tomorrow

93 Sailors, including all but one of the world’s top 25 and 9 nation slots up for contention for the 2004 Olympic Regatta ……………we bring you the form.

Racing begins tomorrow at the 2002 Finn Gold Cup hosted by the Olympiakos Yacht Club, Piraeus, Greece. An impressive entry list of 93 sailors including the world’s best Finn sailors from 30 nations and 5 continents will take to the Saronic Gulf and fight it out for the World Champion title. The top 9 finishing nations will also qualify for the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

All but one Finn sailor in the top 25 of the World Rankings will be competing. The fight at the top of the fleet could see some surprises and those sailors with the highest rankings can by no means be confident of finishing at the top of the fleet. Great Britain’s Ben Ainslie ranked 53rd in the World will be one such sailor offering a challenge to the top ranked sailors. Accustomed to finishing on the podium and fresh from taking home a Gold medal at the Finn European Championships which concluded last week, double Olympic medallist in the Laser class, Ainslie will certainly be seeking to finish at the top of the fleet.

Similarly Luca Devoti (ITA) currently ranked 35th in the world will be hoping to improve on his world ranking and claim his nation’s slot. A more experienced Finn skipper than Ainslie, Devoti already has two Olympics under his belt in the Finn, earning a Silver Medal in 2000.

The top ranked sailors will not however be easy to beat. Croatia’s Karlo Kuret, ranked 3 in the world has been out in Athens using the Greek National Championships as a practice event. Kuret has competed at an incredible 3 Olympics (1992, 1996 and 2000) in the Finn but has not yet managed to secure a medal. With a Bronze at the Europeans earlier this month, behind Ainslie and Devoti, Kuret will undoubtedly be fighting hard to go better.

Another experienced Olympic gold medallist is the World number one Mateusz Kusnierewicz from Poland. Kusnierewicz has held the top spot since June 2001 and will not be planning on giving it up. The Gold medal was just out of his reach at the Gold Cup in 2001 when his arch-rival Sebastian Godefroid (BEL) reversed their 1996 Olympic positions and took home the prize.

Also hoping to take home a medal on his home waters will be Emilios Papathanasiou (GRE). Two-time Olympian, Papathanasiou took home the bronze medal at the Finn Gold Cup in 2001 and has been exchanging the 2nd spot in the World Rankings with Godefroid since July last year.

The 2002 Finn Gold Cup is certainly set to be an exciting competition and the number of extremely talented sailors in contention for the medals means predictions at this stage would be futile. For all the news and race results visit the event website at: http://www.eio.gr/finn2002