Sophie Weguelin and Sophie Ainsworth revelled in securing Great Britain’s spot at Tokyo 2020 with bronze at the Sailing World Championships.
This prodigious pairing continued their fine run of form with a medal in Aarhus, Denmark, ensuring Britain will compete in the 49er FX class at the Olympics in two years’ time.
The namesakes have proved the perfect match in their mere four months competing together, having also bagged bronze at the European Championships in Gydnia, Poland last month.
“We’re really happy with how we sailed this week, and to finish it off with a medal is brilliant,” said Ashford-born Ainsworth, 29.
“We had a lot of nerves going into the medal race and said that we’d just take it as it comes.
“To get a bronze here is pretty surreal actually – when we crossed the finish line it dawned on us that it was our second bronze medal. It doesn’t feel real.
“There’s definitely stuff we need to improve on but we really like the way we work together and we’re having fun. If we can keep it going for the next two years then let’s see what we can do.”
A podium finish saw Britain double their medal tally for the tournament, adding to the bronze won by Hannah Mills and Eilidh McIntyre in the women’s 470 on Thursday
The race was struck by a huge squall that capsized the Austrian boat in the lead, but Weguelin and Ainsworth were undeterred and kept hold of their place at the fleet’s front.
Weguelin, 29, from Lymington, Hants, said: “We didn’t have a great start to the regatta but we stuck to our processes and it really paid off for us.
“Everything’s going really well at the moment and we’re really enjoying it, so it’s nice to see the results coming as well.”
Meanwhile, the men’s 49er medal race saw Britain’s James Peters and Fynn Sterritt return to the Olympic circuit with a fifth-placed finish.
Sterritt’s knee injury has kept the pair out of action but the World Championship runners-up emerged from the mid-fleet to cross the line second.
Dylan Fletcher and Stuart Bithell, the 2017 world champions, finished one place and two points behind their compatriots after coming sixth in the medal race.