RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – There was no way Giles Scott could be a proper Briton and keep a stiff upper lip as he closed in on winning the gold medal in the Finn class in the Rio Olympics sailing regatta.
Approaching the finish line, “I just found myself welling up in tingles as it slowly dawned on me what I had done,” Scott said Sunday.
“I wouldn’t put myself down as the emotional sort, but I had a little cry to myself, which I’d like to think I don’t do that often. Just the emotions that kind of end up coming out of you in that situation, you can’t really prepare yourself for.”
As he crossed the finish line, Scott put his head in his hands for a moment. He stood, raised both arms in triumph and shouted for joy. He sat down again, head in hands.
Scott came in under the enormous pressure of being heir apparent to Sir Ben Ainslie, who was knighted a few months after winning the Finn gold at the London Games. It was Ainslie’s fourth straight gold and fifth games medal overall, making him the most successful Olympic sailor ever.