11 Aug 2012

Golden effort from sailors, Walker rides to silver

12:16 pm on 11 August 2012

New Zealand athletes have won two more medals at the London Olympics - a gold in the sailing and a silver in the BMX competition.

Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie won New Zealand's fourth gold medal of the Games competing in the 470 class at Weymouth, finishing first overall on Friday and securing the country's first gold in women's sailing.

Sarah Walker battled hard for her silver on the BMX track, pipped by Colombian Mariana Pajon, while Laura Smulders from the Netherlands took the bronze. Walker, 24, finished fourth at the Beijing Games in 2008.

New Zealand is now 15th on the overall medal table with 12 medals - four gold, three silver and five bronze, one short of the record haul of 13 at the 1988 Seoul Games.

The New Zealand and British sailors went into the four-leg medal race equal on net points - making it a sudden-death race to decide who would come out with the gold.

Although Aleh and Powrie had a slow start, they struck out on their own course and stayed in front to the end, crossing the line first in 32min 34s.

World Champions Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark from Great Britain had to settle for silver, while Lisa Westerhof and Lobke Berkhout of the Netherlands took the bronze.

It is Aleh's second Olympics, after the 26-year-old finished seventh in the laser radial at the Beijing Games, while Powrie, 24, is competing at a Games for the first time.

Another strong medal hope, world champion canoeist Lisa Carrington, cruised into the final of the K1 200m sprint and will compete for a medal at Eton Dorney on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Black Sticks lost 3-1 to Great Britain in the bronze medal women's hockey match at the Riverbank Arena on Friday, and finish fourth in the world overall.