TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Clearwater's Railey Stands Second In Finn Class Racing

ADVERTISEMENT

The Associated Press

Published: August 10, 2008

QINGDAO, China - Olympic first-timer Zach Railey of Clearwater ended Saturday in an unfamiliar position: ahead of "The Man" in Finn class racing, the seemingly invincible British triple medalist Ben Ainslie, in the overall rankings.

"It's a great start to have in the Olympics," Railey, 24, said after ending the opening day of racing in Qingdao as No. 2 overall after two of 11 races, with a second and a fifth place in the weak wind over China's Yellow Sea.

For Ainslie, 34, there might have been something dejá vu about his opening race. He finished in 10th place, maintaining his unwilling Olympic tradition of getting off to a bad start, and then coming back strong. He finished first in the second race of the day and was third overall.

Currents were strong and winds were weak, too weak to hold the first races, said Denmark's Jason Hoegh-Christiansen, the world's No. 1-ranked Finn sailor and Railey's partner heading into the Games. Under such difficult conditions - sometimes the boats seemed all but becalmed - each decision, each tiny mistake had huge consequences.

"It was fortunate that I had really good downwind speed on the last leg of the first race," Railey said. He said a mistake on the last downwind leg cost him several places in the second race. "In this fleet, everyone is so good. It's the little things that are going to make a big difference," Railey said.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL: Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser, the defending beach volleyball world champions and the overwhelming favorites to win the Olympic gold medal, lost their opening match, 21-19, 21-18 to a Latvian team that was seeded 23rd in the 24-team field.

The Americans, who had won 21 straight international matches, must win their next two matches in pool play to be assured a spot in the medal round.

BOXING: Shawn Estrada got the U.S. boxing team off to an impressive start, dominating Ezequiel Osvaldo Maderna of Argentina on his way to a 10-2 middleweight victory.

With the victory, Estrada advances to fight Britain's James DeGale in the second round Saturday.

SOCCER: Midfielder Carli Lloyd scored on a first-half volley to lead the U.S. women's soccer team to a 1-0 win against Japan and put the Americans' Olympic title defense back on track.

The U.S. looked far from gold-medal form, but did enough against a dangerous Japanese side to pick up a much-needed three points in Group G after dropping its opener against Norway.

The United States, which plays New Zealand in its final group match Tuesday in Shenyang, has three points in the group. Japan has one point, and faces Norway next in Shanghai.

VOLLEYBALL: A U.S. women's volleyball team struck by tragedy just hours earlier beat Japan in an emotional Olympic opener marred by a murder of an ex-player's father.

The team took the court after learning of the stabbing death of Todd Bachman, father of former Olympian Elisabeth Bachman McCutcheon. He was attacked by a knife-wielding man at a popular tourist site in Beijing. Her mother was seriously injured by the attacker, who jumped to his death from a balcony of the Drum Tower, an ancient landmark.

The tragedy hung over the game, in which the Americans defeated Japan 3-1 (25-20, 20-25, 25-19, 25-21), in the first match of preliminary play at the Capital Indoor Stadium.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Diana Taurasi scored 13 of her 17 points in the first half to lead the U.S. to a 97-57 victory against the Czech Republic. Sylvia Fowles scored 15 of her game-high 18 points in the second half for the U.S.

Up next for the women is host China, which beat Spain 67-64 in its first game.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT