KEY POINTS:
And then there was one. Today's medal race in the men's RS:X boardsailing gives Tom Ashley the chance to bag what could be New Zealand's only medal from the Olympic regatta.
After a horror 32nd in the 10th and final race of the qualifying series, Ashley slipped from the top of the overall leaderboard to third - but there is only one point between the first three and today's medal race will be a thriller.
Meanwhile, with the abandonment of two races in the Star class, Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams, remain outside chances for a medal although they will have to do better than they were when the eighth race was called off yesterday. They were struggling in about 10th place.
But all eyes will be on Ashley today, still locked near the top of the standings after a 30-degree wind shift collapsed his chances in the final race.
New leader is France's Julien Bontemps (45 points), with Britain's Nick Dempsey and Ashley together on 46 points.
That means whoever finishes ahead of the other three leading contenders will win the gold medal as the medal race means sailors add double points to their score.
So, if Ashley comes first, he will have to add only two points while the sailor that comes 10th will have to add 20.
The only other medal contender is Israel's Shahar Zubari, on 54, but he will need one of the top three to have a bad day - something entirely possible in Qingdao's tricky conditions.
Former New Zealand Olympic gold medallist Bruce Kendall - here as coach for Greece - wouldn't hazard a guess at the likely winner of today's regatta.
"It's too tough with conditions like they are," he said.
