NOT PLAIN SAILING
Team GB INSTANTLY disqualified from Olympics 2024 race after embarrassing blunder
Scroll to find out how the Olympic low-scoring point system works in sailing
TEAM GB have been disqualified from mixed multi-hull sailing after crossing the start line before the race had started.
John Gimson and Anna Burnet, due to marry next month, missed out on replicating their silver medal Tokyo triumph after finishing fourth in the Nacra 17 catamaran standings.
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The Team GB duo were judged to have been over the line when the starting horn sounded.
Under race rules, they needed to go back and perform a 360 degree turn before restarting the race.
But, perhaps unaware of the mistake, they continued, leading the race off the start before being told of their disqualification by the umpire’s launch.
It left Burnet utterly distraught, first holding her head in her hands and then being comforted by her fiance.
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Gimson, 41, told the BBC: "We made one mistake and it's cost us an Olympic medal so you can imagine we're pretty broken."
While Scotland's Burnet, 31, said: "In that moment it's devastating, it's a bad dream but we can be proud of what we have done.
"There's no one I'd rather be here with. We're so lucky we get to do this together. The highs and lows, we're biding it together."
Italy's Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti, who led going into the medal race, crossed the finish line in second to defend their Olympic title.
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Mateo Majdalani and Eugenia Bosco of Argentina took silver, while New Zealand's Micah Wilkinson and Erica Dawson won bronze.
The Kiwis came eighth in the medal race but that was enough for them to get on the podium.
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But it is another hammer-blow to the much-vaunted GB squad who have had a regatta to forget.
Windsurfer Emma Wilson lost gold and was relegated to bronze in her final having dominated the competition while all the hulled boats have missed out on the medals.
It leaves kite surfer Ellie Aldridge, who has qualified for this afternoon’s four-boat final, as the last remaining podium hope.
How are points awarded in sailing?
The races are conducted in a fleet racing format, where all boats start and compete together.
In Olympics sailing, a ‘low point’ scoring system is used, where the winner of each race is awarded one point; second place is awarded two points, and so on.
Points are awarded based on finishing positions in each race, and the team with the lowest total points at the end of the series wins.
If a sailor fails to finish a race or is disqualified, they are awarded one more than the total number of boats in that event.
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For example, if there are 20 boats in the race, the disqualified sailor will be given 21 points.
Gimson and Burnet were given 22 points and therefore missed out on a second Olympic medal.
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