WEYMOUTH, England (AP) — New Zealand’s Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie won the Olympic gold medal in the women’s 470 on Friday, the Kiwis’ second sailing medal of the London Games.
Aleh and Powrie came into the medals race tied on points with the British crew of Hannah Mills and Saski Clark. The Kiwis won the race while the British finished ninth and took the silver.
It’s the first gold medal for the Kiwis in a boat with a rudder since 1984, when Russell Coutts topped the Finn fleet and Rex Sellers and Christopher Timms won the Tornado class. Coutts went on to become the most dominant skipper in America’s Cup history.
The Kiwis have been strong in windsurfing in recent Olympics, but until these games, they hadn’t won any medals in boats with rudders since 1992.
On Wednesday, the Kiwi 49er skiff crew of Peter Burling and Blair Tuke took silver.
