Coleman finishes with a first

Ireland's Maria Coleman ended a disappointing Europe class campaign with a first in today's 11th race at Athens' Agios Kosmas centre, moving her up to a final position of 18th.

The Baltimore, Co Cork sailor, who had been dogged with back and elbow injuries in the lead-up to the Games, won a race which was almost cancelled.

Gusting winds were playing havoc with the starting time, and with a 3.55pm (Athens time) time limit, the fleet set off with just sixty seconds to spare.

Into an 8-knot wind, 35-year-old Coleman, 20th overall before the start, battled with Holland's Carolijn Brouwer and Laura Baldwin of Great Britain at the head.

Soon these three were a minute up on the rest and ahead of the gold medal race, that had Norway's Siren Sundby and Czech sailor Lenka Smidova cutting each other off.

Coleman hit the front with an 18-second lead over Brouwer but the Dutch sailor had that down to six by the finish.

The Irishwoman crossed the line in 58:01 - to move up two places in the standings, but miss out on beating her Sydney ranking of 12th.

Double-World champion Sundby, aged 21, claimed gold ahead of Smidova, with Denmark's Signe Livbjerg in the bronze medal position.