Team GB win 12th Tokyo 2020 gold as Dylan Fletcher and Stuart Bithell deliver sailing gold after epic photo finish
FORMER Bill child star Dylan Fletcher nicked an Olympic gold medal – by just a second. Fletcher and crew Stuart Bithell had to beat New Zealanders Peter Burling and Blair Tuke by two places in the 49er skiff medal race to take top spot. And that is exactly what they did after a nail-biting race […]
FORMER Bill child star Dylan Fletcher nicked an Olympic gold medal – by just a second.
Fletcher and crew Stuart Bithell had to beat New Zealanders Peter Burling and Blair Tuke by two places in the 49er skiff medal race to take top spot.
And that is exactly what they did after a nail-biting race to the finish which saw the British boat and bronze-chasing Germany attacking the finish line from completely different angles.
The two arrow-heads were tapering to the finish line, bouncing across the waves of Enoshima Bay.
But Fletcher and Bithell got there by no more than six feet to spark scenes of unbridled joy on their boat.
The duo hugged each other wildly, their exhilaration absolutely clear.
Fletcher was a child actor, appearing in The Bill and other shows, while his parents were ballet dancers and his father appeared in Cats.
Bithell, by contrast, grew up in Rochdale and learned to sail on the tiny Hollingworth Lake in the Pennine town.
The pair were fourth in Rio but all that frustration disappeared as they claimed GB’s 12th gold of Tokyo 2020, with the Kiwis second and Germany edging out Spain for third.
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It is the first time GB have won the Men’s 49ers since it was introduced 21 years ago.
Ian Barker and Simon Hiscocks won silver at the Sydney Games in 2000 and Chris Draper and Hiscocks then took bronze four years later.
But Fletcher and Bithell went even further as they became Olympic champions in Tokyo.
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