John Gimson and Anna Burnet medal hopes dashed by false start disqualification

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

John Gimson and Anna Burnet will throw themselves into wedding preparations after seeing their Olympic medal hopes ended by disqualification.

Gimson and Burnet went into the medal race in the mixed multihull class in third position and well placed to match the silver they claimed in Tokyo.

But they crossed the start-line fractionally early and, after not crossing back to start again, which would have erased the penalty, they were ejected from the race and slipped to fourth.

Gimson said: “We were over the starting line and we didn’t realise we were so we continued with the race. We heard the shout but we thought we were bang on the line. We have to take it on the chin.

“We try not to judge ourselves on results. I’m unbelievably proud of how we sailed this week.

“We chipped away every day and got ourselves in medal contention for the medal race. We’ve won a podium at every single regatta this cycle so there’s no regrets.”

Light winds have plagued the regatta in Marseille, and Gimson and Burnet’s only hope was for the race to be abandoned until conditions improved – a scenario that cost their British team-mate Micky Beckett a medal in the men’s dinghy on Wednesday – but that did not happen.

“It’s the worst way to lose the medal I guess because we were totally in control of the race,” said Burnet. “But that’s sport and that’s sailing. It’s been a tough old week. We’ve all given it our best and maybe it just wasn’t to be.”

Gimson and Burnet can not afford to dwell on their disappointment, though, with their wedding coming up early next month.

“Hopefully the wedding planning will be a good distraction,” said Gimson. “We’re about to find out how far Anna’s mum’s got with it. We’ve got a couple of weeks now. I’m sure you can sort a wedding out in a couple of weeks.”

Sailing has been something of a medal factory for Britain in recent Games but that has not been the case here so far, with only Emma Wilson winning a bronze in windsurfing.

Ellie Aldridge should add to that in kitesurfing, with the 27-year-old sitting in second place and guaranteed a spot in the four-woman final.