Month End - Number of posts per Olympic Sport

	Archery	1 post		Athletics	2 posts
	Badminton	4 posts		Baseball	0 posts
	Basketball	3 posts		Beach Volleyball	2 posts
	Boxing	0 posts		Canoe - Kayak Flatwater	1 post
	Canoe - Kayak_Slalom	1 post		Cycling - BMX	0 posts
	Cycling - Mountain Bike	1 post		Cycling - Road Race	3 posts
	Cycling - Track	3 posts		Diving	1 post
	Equestrian	2 posts		Fencing	0 posts
	Football	2 posts		Gymnastics - Artistic	4 posts
	Gymnastics - Rhythmic	2 posts		Gymnastics - Trampoline	0 posts
	Handball	1 post		Hockey	5 posts
	Judo	1 post		Modern Pentathlon	0 posts
	Rowing	3 posts		Sailing	3 posts
	Shooting	3 posts		Softball	0 posts
	Swimming	1 post		Synchronized Swimming	0 posts
	Table Tennis	1 post		Taekwondo	2 posts
	Tennis	1 post		Triathlon	1 post
	Volleyball	1 post		Water Polo	0 posts
	Weightlifting	0 posts		Wrestling	0 posts

Sailing set for more Beijing medals

Sailing has been one of Britain's most successful Olympic sports, with five medals at Athens 2004 and Sydney 2000.

Qualification

Host nation, China, automatically qualifys one boat into each sailing classs for the Olympic Regatta. The majority of places will be awarded to the top finishers at the 2007 ISAF Sailing World Championships to be held on 28th June to 13th July 2007 in Cascais (Portugal), with the remaining places being awarded to the top finishers at the 2008 World Championships for each sailing class.

Class	2007 World Championships	2008 World Championships
Men's RS:X (Windsurfer)	Top 25 finishers	Top 9 finishers
Women's RS:X (Windsurfer)	Top 20 finishers	Top 7 finishers
Men's Laser (One Person Dinghy)	Top 29 finishers	Top 10 finishers
Women's Laser Radial (One Person Dinghy)	Top 19 finishers	Top 6 finishers
Men's 470 (Two Person Dinghy)	Top 21 finishers	Top 8 finishers
Women's 470 (Two Person Dinghy)	Top 13 finishers	Top 5 finishers
Men's Star (Two Person Keelboat)	Top 11 finishers	Top 4 finishers
Women's Yngling (Three Person Keelboat)	Top 11 finishers	Top 4 finishers
Finn (One Person Heavyweight Dinghy)	Top 19 finishers	Top 6 finishers
49er (Two Person Skiff)	Top 13 finishers	Top 5 finishers
Tornado (Three Person Multihull)	Top 11 finishers	Top 4 finishers

Form

British sailors won five medals at the recent Rolex Miami Olympic Classes Regatta (see blog of 29 Jan 2006), to add to the successes at the Olympic test event, the Qingdao International Regatta where;

• Chris Draper and Simon Hiscocks won the Gold medal in the 49er class
• Ben Ainslee won the Gold medal in the Finn class
• Helena Lucas, Annie Lush and Lucy MacGregor won Silver in the Yngling class
• Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield won Gold in the men's 470 class
• Nic Asher and Elliot Willis won Bronze in the men's 470 class
• Paul Goodison won the Gold medal in the Laser class
• Penny Clarke won Bronze in the Laser Radial class
• Iain Percy and Steve Mitchell won Silver in the Star class

With so many of Britain's top sailors producing good performances at the Olympic venue, the chances look good for more success in Beijing.

What to watch

The Olympic Sailing venue is 830 km from Beijing and Sailing is a difficult spectator sport, so although it's an exciting television spectacle with lots of potential medal winners, we are unlikely to go and see it live.

Five Medals in Olympic Classes Regatta

Great Britain won five medals at the Rolex Miami Olympic Classes Regatta. The competition raced in all events selected for the next Olympic Games. After five days of fleet racing, which concluded on 26th January the top ten overall finishers in the Olympic classes advanced to the finals on the 27th, replicating the new Olympic format that will debut in Qingdao, China in 2008.

With final race points counting double, the new format ensured that there was still everything at stake in ten of the eleven categories.

• Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield won Gold in the men's 470 class
• Leigh McMillan and Will Howden won Silver in the Tornado class
• Bryony Shaw won Bronze in the RS:X (windsurfing) class
• Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson took Silver in the Yngling class
• Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes took Silver in the 49ers class

Youth Olympics Analysis

Britains young competitors performed creditably at the recent Australian Youth Olympic Festival with some of the stars for 2012 showing why they are reciving national funding.

Of those British athletes chosen to travel to Australia, 26 are supported by UK Sport via its World Class Pathway, with a further 33 funded by the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme.

91 of the 106 athletes representing Team GB at Sydney secured at least one medal.

Drinkhall & Knight win Table Tennis medals at Youth Olympics

The Great Britain mens doubles Table Tennis team won Gold at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival in Sydney. Paul Drinkhall and Darius Knight beat a Chinese pair in the final. Drinkhall secured silver in the Singles competition, whilst the pair also won Silver in the Team Event.

The medals were achieved against competitors from Australia, China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, New Caledonia, New Zealand and Oceania.

Gymnastics Complete Medal Haul at Youth Olympics

British Gymnastics secured ten medals at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival.

Louis Smith led the way with an outstanding pommel horse routine which earned him the gold medal – one to add to the collection along with the gold medal on the same apparatus from the Commonwealth Games last year in Melbourne.

British gymnastics also won Silvers in the Men's All Round Competition (Louis Smith), Men's Pommel Horse (Daniel Keatings), Men's Floor (Daniel Keatings), Men's Vault (Kristian Thomas ) and Bronze in the Women’s Team Competition, Men’s Team Competition, Men's Uneven Bars (Jordan Lipton), Men's High Bar (Louis Smith) and Women's Beam (Danusia Francis).

British Gymnasts were competing against gymnasts from Australia, Canada, China, Japan, Malaysia and New Zealand in Sydney.

Four Golds on Final Day of Youth Olympics Rowing

The Great Britain team won Four Gold medals at the Australian Youth Olympics.

The women’s quadruple skulls of Francis Fletcher, Rachel Jeffries, Stephanie Mottram and Emma Steel led their race from start to finish.

The women’s coxless four of Vicky Bryant, Rosanna Collings, Stephanie McDowall and Jaqui Round also claimed the gold medal.

The men’s coxless four of Lewis Beech, Tom Lucy, Nataniel Reilly-O’Donnell and Mohamed Sbihi finished well ahead of the rest of the field.

The women's eight, made up of the successful crews from the women’s four and women’s quad, surged ahead in the the third 500m the GB to finish first.

With silver in the Men's eight and to added to the previous days tally, the haul meant the GB rowers topped the final medal table with a total tally of six golds, five silvers and a bronze.

British rowers are competiting against teams from Australian Capital Territory, China, New South Wales, New Zealand, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia in Sydney.

Youth Olympic Hockey Team strike Gold in Sydney

The Great Britain ladies team won Gold at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival in Sydney. The four team tournament provided the young players of the future with an Olympic-style competition in which to hone their skills.

The British men's team were beaten, on penalties, by Australia, in the final. Team GB had also drawn with Australia in an earlier pool match.

The British teams were competing against Australia, New Zeland, China and Malayisa in Sydney.