Zbogar Sails to Silver in the Final Regatta of the Laser Class

Beijing, 19 August

Slovenian yachter Vasilij Zbogar took second place in the final regatta of the laser class at the Beijing Olympics to take second place overall in the competition. Paul Goodison of Great Britain was first.

Zbogar finished the competition with a combined score of 71 points, eight behind Goodison, who had a virtually unassailable lead coming into the final race. Italy's Diego Romero was third with 75 points.
The Slovenian, who was in fourth ahead of today's regatta, broke away from the pack early in the race together with Andrew Murdoch of New Zealand. The two kept the lead until the finish, with Murdoch crossing the line a touch ahead of Zbogar.
The second place was enough to allow the 32-year-old to move up to second overall, improving on his third-place finish in Athens and giving Slovenia its fifth medal of the Beijing Olympics, the country's biggest medal tally at an Olympics.
The country of two million has so far won a gold, two silver and two bronze medals in Beijing, while its previous best was four medals (two silver and two bronze) in Athens.
"I'm over the moon. I performed as I had hoped in the final regatta - I did not make a mistake. Everything went according to plan," said the native of the coastal town of Izola.
Zbogar said that he had been keeping his fingers crossed that the race would not be called off, as the wind started to die down half-way through the race. "I managed to avoid the bad luck that has followed me in some of the big races after the Athens Games."
"All the effort I have put into this sport has paid dividends...when I crossed the line I just couldn't believe that I had again won an Olympic medal," said a visibly ecstatic Zbogar.
With second place in today's regatta, Zbogar managed to overtake Sweden's Rasmus Myrgren and Portugal's Gustav Lima, who held second and third place after yesterday's racing.
The Slovenian's biggest threat was Romero, who however trailed the whole race and took third in the end to capture third place overall.
Romero and Zbogar had a run-in on Monday, with the Slovenian convinced that the Italian had blocked him. "I however profited by not lodging a protest against Romero, because I had more time to rest," said the Slovenian.
"What is more, Romero and I agreed not to flank each other today and stayed true to our word," said Zbogar, who could be seen after the race jumping off his boat to celebrate in the sea together with Goodison. The pair then made their way to the shore on the Slovenian boat.

Zbogar Sails to Silver in the Final Regatta of the Laser Class

More articles from this issue:

Archive