LONDON (AP) A London Olympic organizing committee official has paid tribute to the late British sailing gold medalist Andrew "Bart" Simpson after collecting another knighthood.
Keith Mills, who was the deputy chairman of the London Olympic organizing committee, postponed collecting the Knight Grand Cross award in May after learning of Simpson's death in an America's Cup sailing accident.
Mills says Simpson "was just a fantastic character and we will raise a glass of champagne to him to mark this. ... I was really close to Bart. He was a really good friend. He was supposed to have gone sailing with me this year."
Simpson, who won gold at the 2008 Olympics, died after his boat capsized in a training run for the America's Cup on San Francisco Bay on May 9.
