So hard to lose out on final day, says devastated Murphy

An hour before Katie Taylor edged closer to an Olympic dream in the Excel Arena, another Irish woman’s medal hopes were blown out over 144 miles away.

Annalise Murphy has made sailing a water cooler topic for the past week in Ireland with her inspired performances in the Laser Radial class on the waters off Weymouth and Portland that left the sport’s experts swooning.

She began the medal race in third but in a devastating half-hour of competition, slipped to fifth on the day, and fourth overall with China, the Netherlands and Belgium claiming the podium places.