Windsurfer (Mistral), Women

This was the third consecutive, and final, Olympics in which the windsurfers used the Mistral board. Defending champion Alessandra Sensini of Italy was the favorite, having recently won the 2004 World Championships, but she had a struggle against French sailor Faustine Merret and China’s Yin Jian. Sensini entered the final race in the lead, but only by two points ahead of Merret and five ahead of Yin. When Sensini finished seventh in the final race, she dropped back to a bronze medal, as Merret won the gold with a second-place finish in the 11th race, which was won by Yin, who moved up to the silver medal.

The top five places were remarkably taken by five sailors who had, or would win, the gold medal in this event at some time. Merret won in 2004, Sensini in 2000, and Yin would come back in 2008 and win the gold. Fourth-place went to Hong Kong China’s Lee Lai-Shan (aka San-San), the 1996 gold medalist, and fifth was New Zealander Barbara Kendall, the 1992 Olympic champion.

Sensini’s bronze medal was her third consecutive in the class, after gold in 2000 and bronze in 1996. At Qingdao in 2008, she would win a silver medal behind Yin Jian, giving her four Olympic sailing medals, the most ever won by a woman at the Olympics.