Murphy on a wave of emotion in medal bid

Annalise Murphy, the Irish Laser Radial sailor, will need to hold her nerve and sail her best race ever today to win Ireland’s first Olympic sailing medal since 1980, the first ever sailing medal for a female sailor.

Murphy goes into the double points medal race with a great chance of winning gold. She is one of a top group of four sailors which are separated by just one point. Three can medal, one will finish disappointed.

In terms of previous success she is very much the underdog. Lying on 33 points are China’s Olympic bronze medallist Lijia Xu and Holland’s 2011 World Champion Marit Bouwmeester.