Sailing: Barb will be back to reclaim medal

by DANIEL GILHOOLY

Barbara Kendall will be back in Beijing, more determined than ever.

New Zealand's most decorated woman athlete Barbara Kendall said yesterday she would target the next Olympic Games in 2008, seeking to win a fourth sailing medal that eluded her in Athens.

"You have to back off after one of these things [Olympics] because they exhaust you but I'm not quitting, I'm not throwing the sail in," she said.

Kendall, 36, said she shouldn't be thinking of retirement after seeing 44-year-old Jamaican-turned-Slovakian sprinter Merlene Ottey qualify for the 100m and 200m semifinals at Athens.

"So why should I stop when I'm still in great shape and great form and there's no one in New Zealand better than me. And I'm still at the top of my game in the world."

She had found a happy balance between motherhood and elite competition. Looking after her body had become a refined skill and was the key to remaining at the highest level physically.

Kendall was fourth in her final race yesterday to finish fifth overall in the Mistral competition, the best result of any of New Zealand's eight crews in a regatta that can only be described as disappointing.

It is the first time they haven't won an Olympic sailing medal since 1976.

Tom Ashley was 11th in the final men's Mistral race to place 10th.

Kendall's chances were blown when she was disqualified for early starts in her third and fifth races, but she showed her class to bounce back from 13th place. Her 58 points still left her 24 points outside a bronze medal and 27 behind surprise French winner Faustine Merret.

It is the first time Kendall has missed an Olympic medal. She won gold at Barcelona in 1992, silver at Atlanta four years later and bronze at Sydney in 2000.

It ended the remarkable record of a Kendall having won a medal at every Olympics since boardsailing was introduced. Brother Bruce won bronze in 1984 and gold at Seoul four years later. This was also the first international regatta in which she had placed outside the top three since 1996.

Kendall's trademark smile was flashing as she congratulated her rivals over the finish line yesterday but inner pain still prevailed.

"People think I'm really happy but I'm really gutted," she said.

She cited nerves as the reason for her first disqualification but appealed against the second ruling, believing there were several other sailors over the line before the starting gun and yet she was among just four who were punished.

The appeal was disallowed.

"Once those sort of things happen, it's actually very hard to pick yourself up mentally and go for it again," she said.

Her best day was on Monday, when she won both the ninth and 10th races.

But emotionally it was her worst time.

She was not ashamed to admit that the tears had flowed freely that evening.

"The realisation hit me. I realised it was gone, that I couldn't get a medal."

Kendall was full of praise for the New Zealand management team here, especially her coach and husband Shayne Bright, saying it was the best she had been involved with at a Games.

She felt physically better than ever before and believed she couldn't have had a better preparation, having based herself for two months near the course with Bright and daughter Samantha.

"Shayne did an incredible job getting me the fastest I've ever been and I just made that one error of judgment and that was it really.

"So it's been incredibly disappointing."


- NZPA