British sailor Alison Young is hoping to build her momentum towards Tokyo 2020 after securing bronze at the 2019 Laser Radial World Championships in Japan.
The two-time Olympian was consistent throughout the competition in Sakaiminato City, claiming six top-ten finishes over the 11 races.
The 32-year-old never slipped outside of the top ten in the rankings and clinched bronze on the final day behind Denmark’s Anne-Marie Rindom and the Netherlands’ Marit Bouwmeester.
With exactly one year to go until Tokyo 2020, the 2016 world champion was pleased to have persisted during tough conditions.
“It’s been a pretty savage venue, where we’ve had all sorts of weather, including totally differing conditions on the same race course,” said Young.
“Races really haven’t been over until you’ve crossed the finish line.
“I feel I’ve stuck at it well this week and kept patient.
“My performance is a good platform to build off a year out from the Games.”
Teammate Hannah Snellgrove aspired to finish in the top ten at this championships after returning from a knee injury she picked up at the European Championships.
Snellgrove ended the competition in seventh and was thrilled to have reached her personal goal.
“I’m pretty over the moon to have finished seventh in Sakaiminato,” Snellgrove said.
“I set myself the goal of top ten coming into this regatta as it’s something I have never quite managed at a world championships, so to achieve what I set out to do is a really great feeling.
“It was a really high-scoring event, with pretty crazy winds and consistency was key, so to get a black flag in race one of gold fleet put just a little bit of pressure on, and I’m really happy with how I dealt with that in the finals series.”
Meanwhile, the third Brit in the field Georgina Povall finished in 34th place.
Next on the agenda for Britain’s sailors will be the Tokyo 2020 test event, which is taking place at Enoshima, the Olympic venue, from August 17-22.
Sportsbeat 2019