23 Aug 2015

Gold for Burling and Tuke

9:52 am on 23 August 2015

The New Zealand 49er sailors Peter Burling and Blair Tuke have won gold at the Rio Olympics test event after placing fourth in Saturday's medal race on Guanabara Bay.

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke on Guanabara Bay, 2015.

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke on Guanabara Bay, 2015. Photo: Yachting NZ

After two race wins on Friday, the pair played a conservative game plan in the medal race by sticking close to the second-placed Austrians, the only crew with the potential to steal the overall win.

"It feels great. It's a really big objective for us one year out from the Games and we've put a lot of emphasis on this (event) this year," said Tuke.

Burling and Tuke wear their gold medals on the dais at the Olympic Test Event, 2015.

Burling and Tuke wear their gold medals on the dais at the Olympic Test Event, 2015. Photo: Yachting NZ

Burling said the event was good practice for next year.

"We started off pretty solid, not fantastic, but we just got better during the week. We had a pretty big lead going into today but it was mathematically possible for them to beat us we stuck with the Austrians who were right next to us."

Burling and Tuke have dominated the 49er class over the past three years winning 20 major events in succession.

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (centre) on the podium after winning gold at the Olympic Test Event, 2015.

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (centre) on the podium after winning gold at the Olympic Test Event, 2015. Photo: Yachting NZ

New Zealand's Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie won the bronze medal in the 470, while there were another two top five finishes with Josh Junior in the Finn and Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders in the Nacra 17 both finishing fifth overall.

The 49erFX crew of Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech finished just outside the medals in fourth.