Railey Goes For Medal Today

The showdown between British star Ben Ainslie and Clearwater's Zach Railey in sailing's first medal race at the Beijing Games was postponed until today after winds again failed the Finn racers.

Qingdao, about 300 miles south of Beijing, is notorious among sailors for its light, shifting summer winds and strong currents.

Triple Olympic medalist Ainslie was assured at least a silver medal on overall points entering the medal race, which counts double and was introduced for the Beijing Games.

Ainslie has a 12-point lead on Railey and is 23 points ahead of Sweden's Daniel Birgmark in the overall standings before the medal race.

Before officials called off the race, Ainslie and Railey were fighting it out in slow motion - sometimes seeming to just bob on the water - at the back of the fleet, in ninth and 10th, as the British leader covered the American to make sure he could not threaten Ainslie's gold with a top finish.

"I couldn't take a chance and let Zach sail away. The breeze was just all over the place," said Ainslie, who has Olympic sailing golds from 2004 and 2000, and a silver from 1996. "I think after about the first 30 seconds of the first start he was on to what was happening."

Railey, in position to get silver at the moment the race was canceled, said he was ready to race Sunday, and that he knew that Ainslie might try to block him.

"It's all part of sailboat racing," said Railey, an Olympic first-timer.

JAMES BLAKE: Things went downhill quickly for Tampa's James Blake. After upsetting Roger Federer on Thursday in the men's tennis singles quarterfinals, Blake lost consecutive matches to finish fourth in the competition.

On Saturday, Blake lost to Novak Djokovic of Serbia 6-3, 7-6 (4). A jubilant Djokovic ripped off his shirt and threw it to the cheering crowd, along with two rackets, and waved a Serbian flag as he jogged around the court.

Blake was the last American left in men's singles.

"I felt like I competed hard," Blake said. "I have to take something positive from the way I was playing this week."